Public Health – Seattle & King County will reduce services for thousands of vulnerable patients in King County, as a result of the state budget crisis and cuts to Medicaid-funded services.
Public Health sent layoff notices Thursday to 123 staff, mostly due to a 50 percent funding reduction to Maternity Support Services (MSS). MSS serves low-income pregnant women and their infants to ensure the best health outcomes possible, according to a Public Health press release.
Furthermore, if reductions in reimbursement rates for Medicaid services are not reversed by the Legislature over the next few weeks, additional lay-offs will occur and more than 100,000 patients may lose access to care, according to the press release.
“These cuts, as proposed, are devastating. We recognize the challenge that state leaders face in closing the budget gap, but these cuts will have enormous implications for our community, and may lead to the additional loss of federal funds,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “We want to work with the state to reinvent how we protect public health so we can mitigate the impact of these cuts.”
The MSS cut combined with a proposed reduction in Medicaid reimbursement for federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) will strip more than $23 million from Public Health – Seattle & King County in 2011. These cuts are on top of 2009-2011 reductions totaling $32.9 million and 344 staff positions.
In response to the MSS reduction, Public Health is eliminating 123 staff positions and nine vacant positions, effective Feb. 28, including:
• Direct service staff – 87 (includes nurses, social workers, dentists, dental assistants, interpreters, and education specialists)
• Clinic support staff – 24 (includes patient services representatives and health program assistants)
• Central administrative staff and program management – 12 (includes nurse supervisors, administrative supervisors and assistants, program administrators and managers, a finance officer, and an IT system engineer)
MSS provides support to at-risk mothers, helping babies start healthy by reducing low birth weights, which can result in long and expensive hospital stays, life-long health problems or even death, according to the press release. In 2009, more than 30,000 women and their babies were served by MSS in King County.
In the December special session, the state cut by one-third its reimbursement for Medicaid services for FQHCs, which are designated clinics that primarily serve Medicaid recipients and people without insurance. In addition to Public Health centers, there are six other FQHC systems in King County – HealthPoint, Neighborcare Health, SeaMar, Country Doctor, Seattle Indian Health Board and International Community Health Services.
HealthPoint has a clinic in Renton.
If this FQHC reduction remains in place, critical health services will be eliminated, clinics will close and additional providers will be laid off, according to the press release. Without public health and community clinics to provide health care, tens of thousands of people will be forced to forgo medical care or go to emergency rooms.
Other state cuts to public health services include the elimination of state tobacco prevention funds, reduction in core state support for public health, and reductions in other Medicaid programs, including adult dental and family planning.
