Louisiana could see thousands evicted from nursing homes because the state faces a budget shortfall of more than $500 million and that could lead to many elderly and disabled persons losing their Medicaid, CBS News reported.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said the shortfall related to those in nursing homes needs to be resolved, per CBS News, and eviction letters could go out Thursday to as many as 37,000 people.
In April, the Louisiana House approved a budget plan with $1.8 billion of health care cuts, including the elimination of four Medicaid programs, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported. The Senate has struggled to find money to pay for the programs and has not voted on the budget.
"The cuts are so catastrophic we shouldn't contemplate them but as we sit here the legislature has failed to act in a fiscal session last year and a special session this year," Edwards said, per CBS News.
The Louisiana Department of Health said the Thursday letters would warn elderly and disabled Medicaid recipients that benefits that pay for nursing homes and home care could be lost by July 1, per the Times-Picayune.
"This letter is scary, but it's not a tactic," said Jay Dardenne, commissioner of administration and chief budget officer for Edwards. "I would imagine there is going to be an extreme, adverse reaction from anyone who gets this letter and I don't blame them."
House Republican Caucus chairman Lance Harris and State Rep. Cameron Henry charged that sending the letters was not necessary. Harris and Henry said they believe that despite the cuts, the health department has enough money to continue to fund the Medicaid services, the Times-Picayune said.
Mark Berger, executive director of the Louisiana Nursing Home Association, warned the Senate during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Monday that some of those effected would have nowhere to go, the Baton Rouge Advocate reported.
"These people cannot be taken care of at home and many of them are at an age where there is no home to return to," Berger told the committee, adding that it could also trigger layoffs and job losses at nursing homes. "This budget cut looms large over the entire program."
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