Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy announced that he will make more than $102 million in new cuts to the state's budget. The cuts include more than $63 million in reduced Medicaid payments to hospitals.
Jennifer Jackson, CEO of the Connecticut Hospital Association, said cuts to Medicaid will hurt patients and their communities.
“With nearly one in five Connecticut residents on Medicaid, withdrawing even more funding from the state’s obligation is outrageous," she said. "It puts a tremendous additional strain on healthcare providers, who already provide services with reimbursement that is nowhere near the actual cost of delivering that care.”
Jackson said she wants legislators to intervene. Speaker of the House Brendan Sharkey (D-Hamden) said that lawmakers restored hospital funding the governor had proposed cutting from the budget in June, and he opposes the latest round of cuts.
Malloy’s budget office said he’s made the cuts announced today so the budget remains balanced. Malloy is ordering more than $99 million in cuts to Executive Branch agencies. He’s asking legislative leaders to cut spending by $420,000, and is asking the Judicial Branch to make cuts of about $3 million.
In addition to these cuts, Malloy also announced that he has found $15 million of $20 million in cuts to state aid for cities and towns he had already planned for in the state budget.