By Morris News Service
Savannah Morning News
January 15, 2010
ATLANTA - More bad news, in advance of the expected release at noon today of Gov. Sonny Perdue’s budget proposal. Thursday, Community Health Commissioner Rhonda Medows announced that the state’s Medicaid shortfall for Fiscal 2011 will be in the neighborhood of $635 million.
That’s a 33 percent increase over the $477 million shortfall the state faced last year.
One observer noted that when combined with the temporarily enhanced 3:1 federal match for Medicaid expenditures, this amounts to a total $2 billion shortfall. The result could be “devastating” for the state’s hospitals and health care providers, the source said.
House Appropriations Chairman Ben Harbin said Friday morning the news could make funding for other government services harder to find.
“If I spend money on something that looks good, it has to come from somewhere,” the Evans Republican told a conference of social-program advocates. “Is it coming from our K-12 education? It could be. Is it coming from out healthcare needs, as we saw this morning with the downturn in the economy and the larger-than-expected deficit in Medicaid? Is it going to come from there?”
The increasing burden on the Medicaid system also reflects the state’s tough economic position. It’s being driven up as more Georgians join the poverty rolls.
http://savannahnow.com/latest-news/2010-01-15/georgia-medicaid-deficit-could-exceed-half-billion-dollars
Morris Communications All files and material © Savannah Morning News, 2009
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