Revenue Boost Offers Hope
Higher-than-expected state revenue collections offer hope that the Pennsylvania General Assembly may support the restoration of some of the Medical Assistance cuts included in Governor Tom Corbett’s proposed FY 2013 state budget.
The state’s revenue shortfall for the year was projected to be more than $700 million, but by the end of April, unexpectedly strong revenues have reduced the current shortfall to less than half that amount with only two months left in the state’s fiscal year. The restoration of proposed spending cuts has always hinged this year on better-than-anticipated collections, so the state’s strong revenue picture may free up enough money for some restoration – including, possibly, of some proposed Medicaid spending cuts.
Restoration would benefit Pennsylvania’s high-volume Medicaid providers and its 57 private safety-net hospitals.
Read more about the state’s revenue picture and its implications for the governor’s proposed budget and the prospect of some Medical Assistance spending cut restoration in this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article.