Physicians Warn of Medicaid Cuts' Effects

By Joanna Moreno and Marcos Chappell Tuesday, March 02, 2010

RICHMOND – The Medical Society of Virginia is urging the General Assembly not to cut support for Medicaid in the state budget.

Dr. Daniel Carey, the society’s president, said doctors may to have to reduce the number of Medicaid patients they see – or stop taking Medicaid patients entirely – if legislators approve proposed cuts in Medicaid.

“This is not a decision any physician wants to make,” Carey said at a press conference.

If Medicaid is cut 5 percent, about two-thirds of physicians would reduce the number of Medicaid patients they see or stop treating Medicaid patients altogether, according to a recent survey by the medical society.

Such reductions would significantly affect the health care that the 780,000 Virginians in the Medicaid program receive, Carey said.

“We’re not down to cutting fat here. We’re cutting bone and muscle from this program,” Carey said.

Virginia ranks 48th nationally in funding for Medicaid, a federal-state partnership that pays for health care for indigent, aged, blind and disabled people and for low-income families with children.

Carey said that the program in Virginia is underfunded and that the proposed cuts would hurt Medicaid patients.

“They have a card that entitles them to care. The question is, when are they going to get it, where are they going to get it, and how much is it going to cost?” Carey said.

If doctors see fewer Medicaid patients, the patients will be forced to use emergency care facilities, Carey said. This would tie up resources for people with heart attacks and other life-threatening conditions.

Dr. Tamera Barnes, who is on the board of directors for the Virginia College of Emergency Physicians, agreed that Medicaid cuts will force patients to turn to hospital emergency rooms.

“They will start coming to our emergency departments in even greater numbers because we’ll be the only access they have to medical care,” she said.

Overcrowding and longer waiting times would reduce emergency facilities’ ability to give care to patients with immediate trauma, such as strokes or heart attacks.

“While we understand the current budget situation in the commonwealth, we remain concerned about the welfare of our patients and their access to care,” Carey said.

Doctors aren’t the only group concerned about proposed cuts in state spending on health care. Also last week, a coalition called Healthcare for All Virginians voiced its concerns.

The coalition is worried about cuts to Medicaid and to a program called Family Access to Medical Insurance Security, or FAMIS.

“For every $1 cut from Virginia’s Medicaid program, the state’s economy loses $4.25,” said Molly Cheek, a social worker and member of the coalition. “Virginia can’t afford to forfeit hundreds of millions of federal dollars. The negative impact of businesses and jobs is enormous.”

Kathy Mingledorff, a volunteer for the March of Dimes volunteer and mother of a disabled son, said the FAMIS cuts would hurt families. She said her son would not have received the treatment he needed without FAMIS.

“Alex had multiple emergency room visits for breathing and feeding problems,” Mingledorff said. “I do not know how we would have been able to afford this care without Medicaid and FAMIS.”

Representatives of the American Association of Retired Persons said the budget cuts would hurt older Virginians, too.

“The Senate budget contains a cruel cut to Medicaid, which would reduce eligibility for elderly and disabled Virginians,” said Irving Taylor, an advocacy consultant with the AARP. “Sixteen thousand very poor individuals, with income under $742 per month, could lose their basic health coverage if this is enacted.”

Ali Faruk of the Interfaith Center for Public Policy said Virginia must get its budget priorities straight.

“The commonwealth needs to decide what is important,” Faruk said. “Do we protect health care for elderly and the disabled? Or do we re-open rest stops across the commonwealth?”

The House and Senate are negotiating over a state budget for the next two years. Lawmakers are trying to close a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall.