Health insurance for more people through the Affordable Care Act will create an increased demand for services provided by the LSU hospital system, said LSU System Vice President Fred Cerise, a physician.
With 63 out of Louisiana’s 64 parishes professional health care shortage areas, “we believe there will be plenty of work to be done,” said Cerise.
The LSU System of hospitals must do some adjustments in the financial reimbursement model with less reliance on uncompensated care and more on Medicaid reimbursement, Cerise said. But for the first three years Medicaid expansion expense will be 100 percent federally funded then taper to 90 percent, he said.
“There’s nothing to preclude us from continuing to do our work. We believe there will be a need like never before to be providing these services,” said Cerise.
After Massachusetts adopted the insurance mandate, the two major public hospitals saw an increase in use of out-patient services as well as in-patient care, Cerise said. “There’s really experience in Massachussetts to point to the logic the uninsured underutilize services today. When insured they are looking to use more services,” he said.
The Massachusetts insurance mandate was adopted under its former governor Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
