Medicaid potential cuts put Minnesota health leaders on the edge

Living with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus, Keith Piskur, resident of St. Cloud, learned to say concise to people in all ways in which Medicaid helps him live his life.

“You must not only tell your story, but know which wording to use to be listened to,” said Piskur.

Piskur was the only member of public speaking during a recent round table held by the Social Services Department at Whitney Senior Center in St. Cloud. This is part of a series assembled by the State Department of Human Services while health and local officials are preparing for potential cups in Medicaid at the federal level.

The problem could be serious. The Minnesota Medicaid program, known as medical assistance, costs around $ 18.5 billion a year; A little less than two thirds are supported by federal dollars.

Piskur, with his faithful Maya service dog by his side, sat in his wheelchair and has crossed all the different ways that Medicaid affects his life. He helped absorb the costs of more than 50 surgeries, his home care and his assistance dog.

“My trip is long that will be my whole life. Of course, disability is not my whole life, but it affects all my life,” Piskur told the group.

In Minnesota, about a quarter of the population is on Medicaid. While local healthcare leaders and states express concerns, state solutions are rare. They may have to be understood during a special session later this year.

DFL Governor Tim Walz said Minnesotans will suffer because the state cannot compensate for potential federal cuts in Medicaid.

“We will do our best, but we don’t have the capacity,” Walz said on Tuesday during a round table in a center for the elderly in Bloomington. “I will say this: we are paying more to the federal government. These are our taxes they fly. They deserve to return to Minnesota to take care of our people. ”

Walz then went a little further, suggesting that Minnesota “did not pay the federal government our share of federal taxes if they do not give us anything for that”.

The end details may not be known before spring later this spring, perhaps after the legislative assembly established a budget and adjourn for the year. But some state officials have started to do the calculation, speculating that the state could lose $ 1.6 billion depending on how the cuts are spreading among the states. John Connolly, director of Minnesota Medicaid, said that this would take place to force the difficult choices at the level of the state.

“Limit who qualifies for the program, which can really register the services we cover in the program, then, of course, what we can really pay for suppliers for the services they offer to people in the program,” said Connolly.

Different impacts

Dr. Kim Tjaden is a family doctor and director of Community Health at Centracare Health, which has 10 hospitals and 30 clinics. She spoke to the round table in St. Cloud.

“Rural hospitals already operate on the sidelines, and all the cuts will lead to a decrease in services,” said Tjaden. “We really look at this from an emergency preparation objective. How are we going to continue to take care of people if these cuts pass? ”

In Minneapolis, around 75% of Hennepin Healthcare patients are on a certain type of public program like Medicaid, said Dr. Thomas Wyatt, president of Hennepin Healthcare emergency medicine.

Wyatt said people tend to use emergency service more when they have reduced access to care.

“Our emergency services are already stressed, several times overloaded,” said Wyatt. “This will simply increase this amount of stress. These ED waiting times will be longer.”

The cuts would also reach the services provided by Medicaid.

Amy Gavanda, director of aging and handicap services at Twin Cities Catholic Carities, said the social services agency would also be pinching.

“If Medicaid leaves, the customers we serve will have no options for health care,” said Gavanda.

Gavanda said many of Medicaid beneficiaries to which they provide services did not plan to be part of the program.

“They reached retirement age and thought they had planned. They thought they were all ready,” said Gavanda. “Something is happening – a medical crisis, a loss of accommodation, a spouse dies – and they can no longer afford their life situation.”

Washington Republicans have still not made final decisions about how to achieve the savings they want from Medicaid when they conclude a budget agreement. Up to $ 880 billion in potential cuts may have a significant impact on the program for disabled, old and low -income Americans.

The Republicans postpone the idea that they will be in disorder, saying that they first was looking for fraud and other revivals of the program.

“No one has spoken of reducing an advantage in Medicaid to any duly due,” said Republican President of Chamber Mike Johnson. “What we have talked about is to return the work requirements, so, for example, you do not have valid young men on a program designed for single mothers and the elderly and disabled.”

But Democrats do not see this in this way.

“This would devastate services and exert incredible pressure on the state budget,” said the Democrat representative of the United States, Kelly Morrison.

Morrison points to a letter 14 Republican State legislators sent To their counterparts in Washington, the cuts that said that the cuts are “contrary to the way we, the Republicans, respect the elderly and the vulnerable”.

State legislators await responses

There are a lot of conversations on the potential cups of Medicaid to the Capitol: setbacks that could be inevitable if the federal aid shrink. But unanswered, there have not yet been many concrete solutions.

Within the Tax Committee of the Minnesota House this month, the co-president of the DFL, Aisha Gomez, presented a bill to create a new branch of income tax for high wages. She said it was a way to fill a gap if you materialize.

“We could consider exploding this giant hole in the side of our budget so that we can give tax reductions to companies and millionaires when we are not even here to answer them,” said Gomez during an audience.

The Minnesota Chamber has shared control between the Republicans and the Democrats, which means that the two parties are co -president committees. The other co -president, the republican representative Greg Davids, said that the bill does not represent how much money he could really generate.

“I heard expected cuts. Maybe. Could be.” And I have always been taught that if, if and but were candy and nuts, we would all have a merry Christmas. “

He is not on board. “I give it to you for creativity,” Davids told Gomez. “It’s not going anywhere.”

Until the Congress reaches an agreement in Washington, there will be a lot of discussions in St. Paul.

These cuts could occur after the end of the Minnesota session – perhaps forcing state legislators for a special session to do more than simply talk about potential Medicaid cuts.

Back in St. Cloud, Piskur dwelled after the end of the Community Health Forum. It is impatient with more details, even if they have not yet been refreshed.

Piskur, an active volunteer, has his assistance dog alongside him. The animal is named Maya according to his favorite poet, Maya Angelou.

He is also a poet, and knows the value of public expression. But it is also on the edge

“Honestly, these cuts really scare me because it is my life we ​​are talking about,” he said to state officials in this spring afternoon.