Area hospitals could face critical financial impacts unless healthcare funding is addressed

State Senator Bill Montford said a number of North Florida hospital will face critical financial consequences unless the state can come up with a way to address healthcare funding.

Florida is being asked to expand Medicaid as part of the Affordable Care Act – something the Florida house refuses to do.

The state is asking the federal government to extend for another two years the Low Income Pool program which mainly reimburses hospitals for caring for low-income patients – something the federal government does not want to do without medicaid expansion.

Without the Low Income Pool funding from the federal government, the State faces a $600 million price tag just to keep safety net hospitals open.

Senator Montford said the consequences of not addressing critical healthcare costs will be real and immediate in North Florida.

During a recent committee hearing, senators were told that at least 9 area hospitals, including Weems Memorial in Apalachicola and Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, will face critical revenue loss if the issue is not addressed.

The University of Florid Shands Teaching Hospital in Jacksonville said it would be a matter of months before they closed their doors without the funding.

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