New Budget Year Sees States Cutting Medicaid Payments

More than a dozen states have reduced Medicaid payments this year to doctors, hospitals, and other providers that treat poor patients via the federal program, reports Kaiser Health News.

The rate reductions, most of which took effect July 1 as many states began their new fiscal year, represent an effort by states to cut one of their largest budget expenditures.

Some health-care experts and industry advocates said the cuts, which are subject to federal approval, would deepen the shortage of physicians accepting Medicaid patients and prompt those that do so to increase what they charge patients with private insurance.

Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, and Washington have cut payments to doctors, hospitals, or both this year. A 10-percent rate cut in California is on hold due to a lawsuit.

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