Sequestration will pare millions of dollars from Colorado Medicare payments, medical research, pure lab science and doctor education in coming months, local health officials said Friday.
As a result, there could eventually be longer waiting times for elderly hospital patients, fewer childhood vaccinations, and roadblocks for groundbreaking research proposals.
Hospitals face some of the most tangible near-term problems, as the sequester cuts Medicare spending by 2 percent. The Colorado Hospital Association estimates a loss of $35 million at state hospitals in the first year if cuts remain.
With other trims of hospital spending in the Affordable Care Act, and proposals to cut rural hospital subsidies, the sequester is a direct threat to small, rural hospitals, said CHA president Steven Summer.
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“There are some so dependent on Medicare and Medicaid that it could threaten their long- term viability,” Summer said.
Hospitals will not turn away patients at ERs or empty out inpatient beds filled by government-pay customers. Cash flow in a $2 billion hospital system, as some of the state’s largest groups have grown into, can smooth sudden changes.
But cuts to graduate medical- education programs will mean hospitals hiring fewer interns and residents who ease waiting times for underserved populations, Summer said.
Other social-service providers said it may take time for impacts to trickle down, as some federal money comes to private institutions through state or county agencies.
In other sequester cuts detailed by area officials this week:
• Federal health and medical research could be cut 5 percent, from $59 million in annual spending at the University of Colorado at Boulder and $211 million at the CU Denver and CU Anschutz campuses. Those cuts will feel even more drastic because agencies are five months into the current fiscal year, meaning all the cuts must come from the remaining seven months of spending.
• Colorado children will lose 2,240 potential vaccinations as a result of $153,000 in health cuts for shots, according to a White House summary.
• State substance-abuse programs will lose $1.3 million, the White House said.
• Public health agencies could give up 5,300 HIV tests and nearly a half-million dollars in funding for health-disaster response.
• Private institutions with federal grant funding are monitoring trims, including National Jewish Health with its immunology and respiratory work. National Jewish said it has set aside funds to “bridge” its research faculty during the uncertainty, but cuts “will be hard.”