Collection:LPB

Genre: News, Public Affairs

Place Covered: Louisiana

Copyright Holder: Louisiana Educational Television Authority

Date Issued: 2012-07-20

Duration: 00:24:42

Subjects: MEDICAID | Health Care | Louisiana. Department of Health and Hospitals | United States. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act | Louisiana State University System

Contributors:

• Whinham, Charlie Host
• Sanford, Shauna Host
• Greenstein, Bruce Speaker
• Jenkins, William Speaker
• Smith, Pat Speaker
• Broadwater, Chris Speaker
• Rainwater, Paul Speaker
• Peterson, Karen Carter Speaker
• Jindal, Bobby Speaker
• Greenstein, Bruce Panelist
• Karamoko, Moriba Panelist
• Hood, David Panelist

This segment from the July 20, 2012, episode of the series “Louisiana: The State We’re In” features Shauna Sanford’s report on the impact of the $859 million federal budget cut to the Medicaid program in Louisiana. It includes highlights from a six-hour joint session of the House Appropriations Committee and House Health and Welfare Committee, including testimony by Secretary Bruce Greenstein of the Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) and LSU Interim President William Jenkins, as well as comments by State Representatives Pat Smith and Chris Broadwater. This report also includes comments on the Medicaid cuts by Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater, State Senator Karen Carter Peterson (the chairwoman of the Louisiana Democratic Party), and Governor Bobby Jindal. Charlie Whinham and Shauna Sanford then lead an in-studio panel discussion with DHH Secretary Bruce Greenstein, Moriba Karamoko of the Louisiana Consumer Health Care Coalition, and David Hood of the Public Affairs Research Council (PAR). They discuss: whether Louisiana is experiencing a health care crisis; their surprise at the federal cuts to the Medicaid program; the impact of the cuts on Medicaid patients and the uninsured; Governor Jindal’s decision to reject Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare); the cuts to the LSU Health Care System; the possibility of hospital closures; the funding available to the Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSH); and the changes to Louisiana’s FMAP formula.