Miami's Jackson Health could lose $150M in funding

Jackson Health System executives, already facing severe cash shortages, begged Miami-Dade legislators Wednesday to fight a proposed state budget that would cut another $150 million to $240 million in state funding next year from the county's public hospital. "We need your help taking care of Jackson like we take care of your citizens," Jackson's chief transition officer, Ted Shaw, told the Miami-Dade legislative delegation at County Hall. But in response, legislators barraged Jackson with questions about the system's labor costs and other issues that have pushed the safety-net hospital to the brink of financial disaster. With the annual legislative session beginning Tuesday with an estimated state budget shortfall of $3.6 billion, delegation members said they couldn't commit to rescuing Jackson from cuts.