Louisiana Governor’s Administration Proposes $6.2B State Medicaid Budget
Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco's (D) administration has proposed a $6.2 billion fiscal year 2008 state Medicaid budget that includes funding for a pilot project to redesign the health care system in New Orleans, according to Fred Cerise, secretary of the state Department of Health and Hospitals, the Baton Rouge Advocate reports. The proposed Medicaid budget is $700 million more than what was initially approved by lawmakers for the current budget year and would:
- Expand health coverage for children and state residents with physical and mental disabilities;
- Provide financial incentives to physicians to encourage them to accept Medicaid beneficiaries;
- Continue the development and implementation of a statewide medical information system; and
- Create "medical homes" to provide preventive and primary care to lower-income and uninsured residents in New Orleans.
Cerise said that there is "a great desire at both the state and federal level" to establish a "more rational" health care system in New Orleans as it rebuilds from Hurricane Katrina. Cerise said the Blanco administration proposal would accomplish that. HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt supports a proposal to provide subsidies to lower-income residents to purchase health insurance, which state officials say would leave large numbers of residents unable to obtain coverage, the Advocate reports. Leavitt said federal and state officials are "still working to resolve differences," and Cerise said the state in the meantime will continue to develop restructuring plans that do not require federal approval. According to Cerise, if the New Orleans pilot project is successful, it could serve as a model for improving health care quality and efficiency statewide. Blanco's proposal will be part of the budget debate when the Legislature convenes April 30 (Shuler, Baton Rouge Advocate, 4/12).
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