State may shift hospital cash from New Orleans

A Louisiana House committee has unanimously approved legislation designed to shift healthcare dollars from New Orleans to other regions of the state. The bill directs the Department of Health and Hospitals to work with Louisiana State University to develop a formula for dividing Medicaid "uncompensated care" payments among the state's public hospitals that takes the population of each region into account. Proponents say the bill is aimed at correcting what he sees as a funding imbalance between New Orleans and other South Louisiana hospitals.