5,000 jobs on the line in Medicaid cuts

S.C. hospitals, doctors and other health care businesses could cut 5,000 jobs if legislators approve a proposal to reduce what medical providers are paid to treat poor and disabled patients, according to a University of South Carolina study.

A spending plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1, which the S.C. House will debate next week, would cut about $200 million from the state’s current Medicaid spending.

According to the study by USC’s Moore School of Business, a $228 million cut in Medicaid spending by the state — just slightly more than the House proposes to cut — “would potentially lead to losses of 5,452 jobs and approximately $169 million in incomes.”

From: The State