Ten hospitals fight Medicaid cuts

Lawyers for 10 New Hampshire hospitals argued in federal court last week that the state did not assess the impact that $130 million of Medicaid budget cuts would have on patient care as legally required and should restore the funding.

Hospital finance officers testified about closing psychiatric units and a facility dedicated to caring for those on ventilators, as well as dismissing patients from primary care rolls to cope with the fiscal 2012 cuts that took effect in July.

Psychiatrist Philip Sullivan, director of the Behavioral Health Unit at Southern New Hampshire Medical Center, said the unit has dropped from 30 to 10 beds due to the Medicaid cuts. He estimates 237 patients with serious psychological problems will be denied a bed at his facility this year because of the reduction in beds.

"Realistically, they don't have any options," Sullivan said, when asked where else those patients might turn for treatment.

In addition, Sullivan testified, the medical center laid off 19 full-time employees who worked in the unit.

Lawyers for the hospitals, including Exeter Hospital, say the state violated Medicaid requirements that it assess patient impact before making any cuts and that it provide health care providers a chance to object.

State officials say in court documents that no legal ground exists for the court to issue an injunction restoring the Medicaid money. They also say the hospitals have not demonstrated irreparable harm to patients and restoring the money "would cause fiscal and administrative crisis" in the state.

Exeter Health Care director Frances Gaffney testified that her nursing home unit that treats ventilator-dependent patients will close as soon as the nine long-term patients can be placed elsewhere. Her facility lost $13 million in Medicaid subsidies.

One of the nursing home patients watched from a wheelchair as Gaffney testified, his ventilator's rhythmic hiss of air audible.