The federal government isn’t changing its budget for Florida’s charity health care.
The low-income pool- -- or "LIP" funds -- will be capped at just over $600 million dollars next year.
Last year, about $2 billion dollars were available.
Michael Auslen covers politics for the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald Tallahassee bureau.
He said safety net hospitals are worried:
"In talking to the Safety Net Hospital Alliance, there’s a fair amount of concern among the safety nets that they won’t be able to stay afloat potentially, that they may have to make some severe cutbacks, because they may not get the same kind of funding that they have in the past," Auslen said.
Under the Affordable Care Act, charity care funds were initially scheduled to decrease as states expanded Medicaid.
When the Supreme Court made Medicaid expansion optional, it didn’t change the LIP funding.
So far, Florida legislators have chosen not to expand Medicaid.
WLRN in Miami is a partner with Health News Florida, which receives support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
