Fla. Senate looks to cut $600 M in Medicaid reimbursements

The Florida Senate wants to cut $600 million in Medicaid reimbursements from its budget and WFTV learned that could mean serious cuts for local hospitals.

Paul McMullen is a former business consultant. McMullen told WFTV chronic heart failure forced him to stop working. Being unable to work and unable to get health insurance, he had nowhere to go to get treatment after he left the emergency room.

"There are no safety nets out there," McMullen said.

McMullen later found the one place where he wouldn't be turned away; Florida Hospital's heart failure clinic.

"It's a Godsend," McMullen said.

"If he hadn't been able to come to us, the likelihood of him surviving is not very good," said cardiovascular nurse practitioner, Donna Winsor-Dorough.

Florida Hospital opened the heart failure clinic six years ago to help uninsured patients like McMullen. But over the past five years, hospitals have absorbed $1 billion in Medicaid reductions.

On Sunday, the Florida senate is asking them to lose $600 million in a year.

"There is no way hospitals can deal with this. It's too much," said Rich Morrison of Adventist Health Florida.

Morrison says the reductions could force Florida Hospital to reduce or eliminate services like the heart failure clinic, while its demand is on the rise.

"There are more and more people coming to us with those stories of I've had insurance all my life, I've had a job, all of a sudden, I've lost my job, I've lost my insurance," said Cindy Hayes, a cardiovascular nurse practitioner.

WFTV attempted to contact Florida Senator Joe Negron's office several times but his office would not comment.

He is the chair of the committee that proposed the cuts.