Opinion: A watershed moment for LSU

Louisiana is the fourth-highest spender of DSH resources, with over 90 percent of those dollars directed to the LSU public hospitals. Between DSH and Medicaid payments, LSU Hospitals are paid on average 30 percent more than private hospitals to deliver the same care. In response to Congress’s reduction in Medicaid funding, the LSU system announced plans to meet the budget shortfall. Last week, LSU leadership laid out their roadmap to achieving this reduction, which includes no hospital closures and strengthens graduate medical education programs. Instead, they are working on a new model by focusing on maintaining medical homes and outpatient clinic care while maximizing public-private partnerships to close service gaps and enhance graduate medical education programs.