This is a reprint of the Austin Medical Center’s opinions on Governor Pawlenty’s budget plans for 2010-11:
LETTER TO THE EDITOR – Republished with permission from Austin Medical Center – Mayo Health System
AUSTIN POST-BULLETIN BY DR. AGERTER AND ADAM REES
April, 2009
Dear Letter to the Editor:
We are writing to let you know about Governor Tim Pawlenty’s proposed budget cuts to hospitals in Minnesota and to help us put a stop to the proposed budget. First and foremost, the proposed cuts would seriously damage our already strained system, diminish access to care, and jeopardize our health care infrastructure.
Despite receiving $1.8 billion in federal stimulus money from President Obama’s stimulus package, not one penny will go toward improving the state’s health care budget. By playing shell games with federal matching money for health care, the Governor recommends neglecting the health care needs of Minnesota’s citizens (and directly Mower County) while funding other government programs on the backs of hospitals.
The Governor’s revised budget proposal recommends cutting $172 million from the state’s general fund
by dramatically scaling back the General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) program. The people
receiving GAMC are the poorest of the poor, making less than $7,800 per year. Reliable inpatient
hospital payments are eliminated in the Governor’s revised budget proposal. The shift in costs to
hospitals who care for this population will only increase the financial strain to our health system, and
Austin Medical Center.
Uncompensated care, in the form of charity care and bad debt, is rising at an alarming rate because of
increases in the uninsured population and the increased use of high deductible health plans.
Uncompensated care in Minnesota nearly tripled in the past six years from $237 million to 2002 to an
estimated $601 million in 2008. Austin Medical Center’s uncompensated care in 2008 was $538,000.
And uncompensated care the first three months in 2009, compared to the first three months in 2008, has
increased over 39%.
Along the same lines as uncompensated care, the Governor intends to completely eliminate all adults
from the MinnesotaCare program by Jan. 1, 2011. These individuals will still need care and will end up
in our hospital emergency room without the ability to pay for the care they receive. This will not only
increase the burden on all Minnesota hospitals, including Austin Medical Center, but it also may increase
costs for those who do have insurance to help pay for those who do not.
So as you can see, the Governor needs a more balanced approach, with cuts in all areas of state spending!
We know that health care cuts cannot be avoided, but we shouldn’t have to continue to take a
disproportionate share of them. We cannot sustain these additional cuts. Please help us contact our
legislators TODAY and so our voices will be heard loud and clear. With your help we may be able to
impact how local health care at Austin Medical Center remains viable now and well into the future.
David Agerter, M.D., CEO, Austin Medical Center
Adam Rees, CAO, at Austin Medical Center
