Members of a House budget panel Wednesday questioned whether public hospitals and large teaching hospitals would suffer from a combination of funding changes in Medicaid and medical-residency programs.
The House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee received estimates that, for example, show Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami losing about $28 million.
Others estimated to lose millions of dollars include Shands Hospital at the University of Florida and Tampa General Hospital.
“It’s kind of hard to look at these numbers and not be angry,” said Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, a Miami Republican who focused on the potential cuts at Jackson.
The changes stem, in part, from a new formula that is scheduled to take effect July 1 for making Medicaid payments to hospitals.
Lawmakers last year approved the use of such a formula, known as diagnosis related groups, or DRGs, and it will lead to some hospitals gaining money and others losing money.
Meanwhile, Gov. Rick Scott has proposed a plan that would increase funding for medical-residency programs but also could spread money more widely among hospitals that meet accreditation standards. That proposal would affect the complicated process of Medicaid funding for hospitals and was calculated into the estimates provided Wednesday.
Karen Zeiler, a deputy chief of staff to Scott, said the potential reductions for some hospitals stem from the new DRG system.
Tony Carvalho, president of the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida, which represents public and teaching hospitals, urged the panel to postpone the DRG changes until July 2014.
