Conn. budget moves Medicaid money, cuts some hospital funding

Jun 5 2013

Connecticut lawmakers approved a budget Monday that moves about $6 billion in federal Medicaid dollars out of the budget. The budget also cuts some hospital funding.

The Wall Street Journal: Connecticut Legislature Approves $37.6 Billion Budget For State
Connecticut's state Legislature gave final approval Monday to a two-year $37.6 billion budget that restores aid to cities and towns while it slashes hospital funding and changes how the state accounts for Medicaid spending. … Instead, the budget now changes how it accounts for Medicaid spending by moving about $6 billion of health-care spending over the next two fiscal years off of the budget. Normally, Connecticut counts the full costs it pays for Medicaid without accounting for federal reimbursements. The state plans to spend about $10.4 billion on the program over the next two years, and the federal government is expected to pick up about $6 billion of that (De Avila, 6/3).

The New York Times: Connecticut Legislature Approves Budget
To strike the budget, legislators relied on one-time revenues from various sources, adding 600 lottery terminals to bars and restaurants around the state for keno -- a gambling contest in which players try to guess which numbers will be randomly generated by a computer -- and by shifting about $6 billion in federal Medicaid assistance out of the budget, which kept it under the state spending cap (Applebome, 6/3).

First responders find themselves also in the budget cut crosshairs --

Stateline: Front-Line Heroes Subject To Budget Cuts, Pay Disparity
When bombs exploded in Boston and a monster tornado tore through Oklahoma, paramedics and emergency medical technicians ran toward danger. As first responders, they put their own lives at risk in order to save the lives of others. Yet EMTs and paramedics are governed by a haphazard patchwork of rules that vary widely by city and state. And their wages differ widely as well (see infographic), from a high of $52,930 a year in Washington, D.C., to a low of $25,900 a year in Kansas. The national average wage was $34,370 in 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In smaller and rural communities, EMTs and paramedics are often volunteers (Mercer, 6/3).