The board of the state’s largest publicly funded acute care hospital dealt a major blow to proponents of the state’s heretofore scrapped healthcare assistance program, GAMC, by voting unanimously to reject the legislature’s alternate proposal in the face of Governor Tim Pawlenty’s veto of the program.

[Hennepin County, MN] Commissioners said the terms of the new Consolidated Care Delivery system, established to replace the General Assistance Medical Care program as of June 1, could overtax the capacity of Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) to care for poor people seeking treatment. That’s because, according to the board, so few other hospitals have agreed to participate in the new program.

At this point, it’s unclear whether the state’s second largest supplier of such care, Regions Hospital in St. Paul, will join HCMC in this key blow to guarantee some form of acute care to the indigent. | LINK

UPDATE: It appears as though Regions Hosp. will not be abandoning its mission to provide such care, but the political wrangling to come will really guarantee nothing. Expect to hear a cacophony of voices to intervene before the conclusion of this legislative session, starting with those from the Hennepin Co. Board itself:

In the end, [Henn. Co. Chair. Mike] Opat said, state officials said that they didn’t believe the new law allows negotiation. “We prefer that they take a little more expansive view of the statute — or change it,” Opat said.

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1. Some Hospitals Will Not Be Providing Care to Minnesota’s Indigent and Working Poor The revamped acute medical coverage for Minnesota’s poverty-stricken working poor...
2. Minnesota Hospital May Be Ultimate Arbiter in State’s Ability to Provide Safety Net Care to Poor The state’s largest acute care medical safety net, Hennepin County...
3. Hennepin Co. (MN) Med. Ctr. Agrees to Participation in Revamped Indigent Care Program The drama unfolding in the past week during which acute...
4. MN Safety Net Mechanism Faces Unexpected Problems with Payment Formula The retooled GAMC health plan initiated due to the budget...
5. Minnesota’s Largest Acute Care Safety Net Announces Cuts in Care Delivery So much of what happens to safety-net healthcare delivery really...