A “Sick” Proposition: President Calls For Cuts That Impact Local Health Care

Just the past weekend I was discussing the benefits or lack thereof of a socialized medical system. The long line, the extensive waiting time, even for the terminally ill, and doctors who take vacations generally without anyone to look after their patients, and we collaboratively decided that, privatized medicine remains the best “worst” system of the world.

Well, that may be until now. It seems that the riggors we were condemning may becoming more prevelant a lot closer to home. According to officials President Bush has proposed a budget that calls for Long Island hospitals to cut back on services.

Yet local officials note that their main objective will be getting that essential money restored.

The current measure call for budget cuts of $531 million in both Medicare and Medicaid funding over a five-year period. And, that translated into New York State losing about $7.5 million over the same time span.

According to the experts, the cuts would come in the form of Medicare and Medicaid funding for medical education at teaching hospitals and that means that the reduced staff would need to do the same job regardless of the shortage of people. That they fear would significantly impact patient care.

Still, the bill in not expected to pass without a fight from other party officials, namely Democrats who are in control of both houses for the first time since 1994.

However, the President could bypass Congress and implement certain specified budget cuts by putting them into effect when Congress is in recess.

And, many hospitals, such as NUMC fear that they will cease to exist without this crucial funding, a very real fear for many local medical institutions, who expressed that the cut destroys their safety net.