According to the article “DHH Makes Additional Medicaid Cuts” by Marsha Shuler on 2TheAdvocate.com, Louisiana’s health chief announced Friday that there will be $135 million in cuts to Louisiana’s Medicaid health insurance program for the poor.  This is going to affect many with Louisiana health insurance through Medicaid.

State Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary, Bruce Greenstein, says increased Medicaid enrollment and a higher demand for health care is to blame for the Medicaid budget being so off.  The Medicaid program currently serves about 1.2 million Louisiana residents, and most of them are children.  It’s scary to think how these children may be affected by the cuts.

Greenstein says the number of Medicaid enrollees increased about 4.4% last year and it keeps increasing steadily causing the $7 billion budget to be off.  The cuts will cause a 2-5.8% cut in payments that doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers normally receive to care for the poor in Louisiana.  The cuts also include the elimination of a program that gave many pediatricians an extra monthly payment towards the care of their patients.  As health care costs rise more cuts will unfortunately be made across the nation.