Governor Jindal came into town Friday and spoke about recent cuts budget that will mean privatizing Pines Treatment Center. The Pines treats 500 people each year for substance use disorders. This privatization may mean dozens of jobs will be lost in the Shreveport area.
Following the privatization announcement, Pines administrator George Sewell made valid points: the treatment center already cut back on nursing positions; its staff is competent and caring; and the savings in mental health budgets will translate into higher costs for the Louisiana criminal justice system and hospitals. But why would the Governor suddenly privatize a facility that opened its doors in 1976?
Louisiana will receive millions less this coming year from the federal government's Disproportionate Share Hospital program. If a state wants to allow "the indigent to use government facilities at no cost as their sole health care provider it now will have to fund by itself," in the words of Political Science Professor Jeff Sadow. In part because 27% of Louisiana residents rely on Medicaid, the state was hit harder by these changes than anywhere else in the country. Governor Jindal described his options: he could take the money from education; he could raise taxes on businesses so the cost would be passed on to consumers; he could take the money from the Medicaid program or charity hospitals; he could borrow the money so the cost would be passed on to the next generation; or he could privatize treatment centers operated by the Office of Mental Health. He chose the last.
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