The latest round of budget cuts ordered by Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration dramatically affects some Louisiana residents
who are near the end of their life’s journey.
Earlier this month, the
administration announced that funding of hospice for Medicaid patients
who are not in a nursing home
would be ended in February. However, funding will be provided for
those Medicaid hospice patients who are currently receiving
care.
The reduction comes in the program as part of the plan to deal with a $166 million mid-year shortfall in the state’s budget.
Hospice care is normally accorded
to people who are terminally ill and addresses the physical, emotional,
social and spiritual
needs of the patient. It services often include physicians,
nurses, chaplains and volunteers who visit the patient and a bereavement
program to help family members after the death of their loved
ones.
About 5,800 Medicaid patients received hospice care in Louisiana during fiscal year 2011-2012.
As expected, the cuts in state funding for the hospice program has been met with howls of protest.
State Rep. Patricia Smith, D-Baton Rouge, accused the administration of misleading state lawmakers regarding the cuts to the
hospice funding.
The executive director of the New
Orleans-based Louisiana-Mississippi Hospice and Palliative Care
Organization said the cuts
will wind up costing the state money because many of the patients
who, heretofore, have been treated at home will wind up
in emergency rooms across the state. He said those hospice
patients who spend their final days in the comfort of their home
save the state money.
‘‘They’re going to be left to fend for themselves,’’ said Jamey Boudreaux, adding they won’t have the emotional support for
what for many is the most trying time in their life.
He also noted that other states that have cut funding for hospice programs have reversed course and reinstated it.
Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein said the state had no other choice and that hospice patients
could rely on faith-based or nonprofit organizations to provide for hospice services.
If these cuts seem cruel, they are. Unconscionable may be a better description. Inhumane also aptly fits.
In the state’s $25 billion budget,
where $166 million is less than 1 percent and what the state spends on
Hospice care is
a fraction of that number, there had to be other areas that could
have been trimmed long before a program that helps comfort
people in their final days.
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This editorial was written by a member of the American Press Editorial Board. Its content reflects the collaborative opinion of the Board, whose members include Bobby Dower, Ken Stickney,
Jim Beam, Crystal Stevenson and Donna Price.