Inside Report for Dec. 7, 2012

Landrieu pushing Jindal on health care

Louisiana has a lot to lose if Gov. Bobby Jindal continues to reject state participation in the federal health care revamp known as the Affordable Care Act.

That was the bottom line of a missive Mary Landrieu, Louisiana’s senior U.S. senator, wrote Jindal this week about the new law.

Landrieu, a Democrat, laid out the law’s benefits to Louisiana as she urged Jindal to reconsider now that the presidential election is over and Jindal’s choice, Republican Mitt Romney, lost.

Landrieu reminded that key deadlines are fast approaching.

Jindal must decide by Dec. 14 whether Louisiana will run its own “health-care exchange” or, as Landrieu put it, “cede the authority” to the federal government to set up and run the marketplace — most likely a website — that will allow consumers to price and compare different coverage plans offered by competing insurance companies.

Regardless of what Jindal announces on Dec. 14, the federal government set a Feb. 15 deadline to have set in place a plan to create the exchange. If Louisiana doesn’t outline by that date what would be included in the “Essential Health Benefits” package, the federal government will decide for the state.

Landrieu also encouraged Jindal to take advantage of the Medicaid expansion the law affords states beginning in 2014. She noted it would provide health insurance to up to 400,000 Louisianans at little or no cost to the state. “This includes up to 240,000 workers who sustain industries that are vital to Louisiana’s economy, including construction, tourism, retail and food service,” she wrote.

Landrieu suggested the expansion would benefit the state budget, with federal funds covering $25 billion of the $26.8 billion estimated cost over 10 years. “That’s an additional $26.8 billion flowing through the state’s economy that will increase state revenues and support our hospitals, other health-care providers, and the myriad of businesses that serve these providers and their patients,” she said.

To date, Jindal has shown no signs of budging from his position, declaring on national television that he continued to oppose the ACA and more legal challenges remained. He wrote a treatise on the ills of the ACA as he notified federal officials that the state would not set up its own health-care exchange.

But there’s discontent forming among the state’s health care provider groups that are considering many of the points Landrieu is making and looking at Louisiana’s continuing budget woes, which have eaten into health-care financing.

Both the Louisiana Hospital Association and the Louisiana State Medical Society have meetings scheduled for next week with the subject on their agendas.

“We stand ready to support patients and their physicians in this time of change,” said LSMS Executive Vice President Jeff Williams.

“I think you will see different groups attempting to get the administration to do something — either Medicaid expansion or some type of negotiation with (U.S.) Health and Human Services,” said LHA Vice President Sean Prados.

Prados said hospitals are concerned because cuts in Medicare payments and uninsured care dollars are being used to help pay for the expanded Medicaid coverage. “We could lose those dollars to other states for expansion,” he said. “It’s multiple hits on providers and patients.”

The financial considerations are coming at time when state health-care officials are negotiating deals with certain private sector operators for LSU hospitals, committing uninsured care and other special health care dollars which could be scarcer under the Affordable Care Act.

“There’s a lot of people talking to a lot of people right now,” said Prados.

Marsha Shuler covers health care policy issues for The Advocate’s Capitol news bureau. Her email address is [e-mail].

Comments

1) Comment by J.R.Madden - 07/12/2012

Governor Jindal is running for President of the United States. All of his actions/inactions are predicated upon winning that election. The welfare of the people of Louisiana is not part of his plan. He wants to be able to say he did not raise any tax in the state during his terms in office. He wants to say he opposed Federal actions to meddle in state affairs such as the Affordable Care Act (ACA). He plays it low key though when he seeks Federal aid in dealing with the BP oil spill and Hurricane Isaac. There are, after all, entitlements and then there are entitlements ... it all depends. He strangely does not oppose the state receiving about $1.78 in benefits & aid for every $1 we send to Washington. In 2011, Federal aid was equal Louisiana's in-house revenue; that is, one-half of the income funding our budget came from the U.S. government ... so much for standing on our own feet. But, Governor Jindal supports cutting back on the big, nasty Federal government when he is President. So, will he make Louisiana pay its own way then? No more Federal dollars for highways, medical coverage, education, levees, airport improvements, disaster response ... that will be the selling point for the Jindal-for-President campaign but just not in those precise words. So get ready Louisiana! When Governor Jindal becomes President Jindal, your state taxes will skyrocket unless less you move to one of those nasty blue states that send more money to Washington than they receive right now.

2) Comment by Old Man Kensey - 07/12/2012

And the one the Supreme Court upheld and the voters voted to protect.. get over the fact that, gasp, politics was played on capital hill. The healthcare law can be a good thing, a first step in the right direction, but what we don't need is continued obstruction. There is nothing to gain from that.

3) Comment by Whatnow - 07/12/2012

Advocate, you mean the ACA that Obama paid off Mary to vote for??? Let's don't forget that little fact.

4) Comment by tradewinns - 07/12/2012

what about the negatives? every thing has two sides, nothing is all good or all bad. if one side supports the program all you'll hear is the positives and vice versa. i don't know much if anything about the program, however,the first negative is the difference between the cost and the reimbursement. as the federal government will come in and set up their own bureaucracy, the dollars will still flow to the "needy". so the state saves $1.8 BILLIONS!

5) Comment by lovemykids - 07/12/2012

Jindal has 2 years to hope the President's policies fail. Too bad Jindal's policies will fail before then.

6) Comment by gary - 07/12/2012

I wish some of the national media - who loves to quote our governor on Romney's failure - would ask why he is turning down the health care dollars in the ACA.