Louisiana Medicaid program announces deficit

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The state health secretary says Louisiana's Medicaid program is more than $250 million over budget this year, a midyear deficit that will have to be closed.

Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine says he'll have a formal estimate to present to lawmakers on Monday. But he said Thursday that the deficit is "well in excess of $250 million."

He attributed the problem to the costs of swine flu, a national recession that has pushed more people onto Medicaid rolls and a delay in enacting some of this year's cost-cutting moves.

Levine says more than $100 million of the deficit is tied to swine flu cases driving up emergency room visits, trips to the doctor's office and medication needs and, therefore, billing costs in the Medicaid program.

Medicaid, Elderly

Newstex ID: AP-0001-39189889