Florida could lose nearly 75,000 jobs and up to $8.1 billion in business activity if Medicaid cuts approved by the U.S. House of Representatives become law, according to a report released Tuesday by a national health care advocacy group.
And while local health care providers did not address worries about potential job losses, they did offer deep concerns about any proposed cuts in reimbursement for Medicaid, which covers health care for more than 84,000 disabled people and disadvantaged seniors and children in Manatee and Sarasota counties. Statewide, more than 3 million people rely on Medicaid.
Manatee Memorial Hospital received 15 percent of its budget from Medicaid reimbursements last year, according to Kevin DiLallo, chief executive officer of Manatee Healthcare System, which includes Manatee Memorial and Lakewood Ranch Medical Center.
“The Medicaid cuts will hit us hard and will be one more challenge for Manatee Memorial Hospital to provide care to our community,” DiLallo said. “It’s unfortunate that we look to cut our providers in a time when patients are getting older and sicker than in any time (in) our community’s history.”
The losses in jobs and business activity are projections made by Families USA, a nonprofit that describes itself as a nonpartisan nationwide advocate for high-quality, affordable health care.
The group’s report outlined projected economic losses under three levels of cuts, totaling $771 billion over 10 years, proposed by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who seeks to convert Medicaid reimbursements into block grants.
At Sarasota Memorial Hospital, more than half of the 3,000 mothers who gave birth there last year were covered by Medicaid, said spokeswoman Ellen Simon.
“We expect the number of Medicaid patients to continue to increase in future years,” Simon said. “So funding should be sustained at sufficient levels, not decreased, to ensure that we can continue providing critical health care to our community’s most vulnerable patients.”
The Sarasota County Health Department is already in the fourth year of recurring reductions in Medicaid reimbursements, according to Melanie Michael, division director for the department’s Clinical and Community Health Services.
“Any further reductions in Medicaid reimbursement would put even greater strain on the ability for residents to access affordable health care in our community,” she said.
Only about 2.3 percent of the patients at Bradenton’s Blake Medical Center are Medicaid recipients, said spokeswoman Stephanie Petta. Nevertheless, she said, “cuts in reimbursement are never good, particularly in this health care environment.”
A spokesperson for the Manatee County Health Department referred all questions to the state health department.
Using the same model that the U.S. Department of Commerce applies to estimate the economic impact of military base closings, natural disasters, and hospital and airport expansions, Families USA predicted the loss in Florida of:
n 11,320 jobs and $1.2 billion in business activity should Medicaid reimbursement be reduced by 5 percent, which is Ryan’s proposed cut in 2013.
n 33,970 jobs and $3.7 billion in business activity under a 15 percent cut, which is Ryan’s proposed reduction in 2014.
n 74,740 jobs and $8.1 billion in business activity under a 33 percent cutback, which Ryan proposes for 2021.
“Every federal Medicaid dollar that flows into a state stimulates business activity and generates jobs,” Families USA Executive Director Ron Pollack said during a conference call releasing “Jobs at Risk,” the group’s report. “Conversely, cutting Medicaid funds not only hurts seniors, people with disabilities, and children who count on this program as their lifeline, but also results in fewer jobs.”
The loss in business activity cited by Families USA takes into account the extended impact of health care workers losing their jobs, Pollack said.
“The first sector hit hard would be the health care sector,” he said. “But in turn, if a nurse lost her job, she’d no longer have the capacity to purchase an auto, or a dishwasher, or other commercial goods.”
Pollack said nursing homes, which receive half of their funding from Medicaid, would be hit especially hard by Ryan’s cuts. And Florida would be hit especially hard because it has the highest percentage nationwide (more than 17 percent) of residents 65 and older.
Karen Woodall, another official with Families USA, emphasized that Florida will likely already experience a $1.3 billion reduction in Medicaid reimbursement because of a state law passed this year that makes Medicaid a managed care plan.
Pollack and Woodall were joined in Tuesday’s conference call by U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, whose district includes Tampa and part of Manatee County. Castor repeatedly called Ryan’s plan “Tea Party-infused” and said it “would pull the rug out of the economic recovery” Florida is just starting to experience.
“We’ve spoken with a number of health care providers throughout the state, hospitals and nursing homes that are some of our largest employers,” she said. “They’re going to have to lay people off and we simply can’t take that.”
A spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, whose district includes Manatee and Sarasota counties, did not comment directly on the Ryan cuts. A spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., did not return a phone call requesting comment Tuesday.
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson’s spokesperson forwarded a copy of a letter he signed two weeks ago, along with 36 other Democratic senators, that opposed the Ryan cuts.
Christine Hawes, Herald business writer, can be reached at (941) 745-7081.
