Florida Budget Negotiators ‘Bump’ Hospital Funding Issues

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By JIM SAUNDERS
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

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THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, April 29, 2017……… Florida budget leaders will have to decide how to structure about $651 million in Medicaid cuts for hospitals and also will grapple with issues such as how much money nursing-home residents should keep each month for personal needs.

A conference committee on health and human-services programs finished work after a late morning meeting Saturday and “bumped” unresolved issues to Senate Appropriations Chairman Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, and House Appropriations Chairman Carlos Trujillo, R-Miami.

The conference committee agreed to cut $250 million in state-general revenue funding for Medicaid care in hospitals. That translates into a $651 million overall cut when federal matching funds are added. But the committee did not agree how the cuts would be structured, which can be an important issue in the complex Medicaid funding system.