(WKYT) – Fee-for-service Medicaid providers in Kentucky are set to receive a 4% cut to reimbursement rates effective Aug. 1, according to a letter from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
Amy Staed, CEO of the Kentucky Association of Private Providers, said the cuts could have a severe impact on providers already operating on tight budgets.
“When you’re operating on paper thin margins, we’re talking five percent margins, a four percent cut is devastating,” Staed said. “People don’t know how they’re going to keep their doors open.”
Services for vulnerable Kentuckians at risk
The services facing cuts include residential care, home-based care and personal care, and many others. These are services Staed said benefit Kentucky’s most vulnerable residents, including people with disabilities.
“They’re necessary services to help people live and remain in their communities,” Staed said.
Doug Hoyt, CEO of service provider Wendell Foster in Owensboro said some of their programs are among those facing cuts. He also said reimbursement rates are already low and not keeping pace with the current economy. He warned that further cuts could force providers to reduce employee wages or close altogether.
“Wendell Foster’s already in the process of talking about what in the world are we gonna do if we have to take these cuts and another year comes along and we cannot give wage increases?” Hoyt said.
Hoyt said without these services, many people could end up in institutional care.
“You and I wouldn’t want to live that way, why would we think anybody would want to live that way?” Hoyt said.
Political dispute over Medicaid funding
Gov. Andy Beshear has pointed to the General Assembly, saying lawmakers denied his proposed budget and cut $1 billion he said would have covered necessary costs for Medicaid recipients.
In a statement, the Kentucky House Majority Caucus said it provided more than $31 billion for the state’s necessary services and programs. The caucus also said it “gave the governor and his administration the flexibility to use existing state funding to protect priority services like those for vulnerable Kentuckians when making reductions.”
Hoyt said it’s not a political issue.
“It’s a human issue, it’s a personal issue. It means something to these folks,” Hoyt said.
Families call on governor to reverse course
Katie Bentley, whose son relies on a Medicaid waiver to remain independent, said in a previous interview that she was concerned the cuts could change that.
“I’m not just speaking about my family but I know that cuts to services would mean that some people wouldn’t even have someone to get them out of bed each day,” Bentley said.
Providers and families who benefit from these services are asking Gov. Beshear to reverse course before the Aug. 1 effective date.
We have reached out to Gov. Beshear’s office to ask if he has the power to reverse these cuts. We have not heard back yet.