Elon Musk’s DOGE cuts to hit Louisiana health agency | Health care/Hospitals

The Louisiana Department of Health, which runs the state’s Medicaid program and scores of initiatives aimed at improving public health, may lose tens of millions of dollars in funding due to federal program cuts initiated by the Trump administration through its Department of Government Efficiency.

According to DOGE’s public “wall of receipts,” which billionaire Elon Musk, who is leading the cost-cutting endeavor, has posted in an effort to show how he is reshaping federal spending, Louisiana is expected to lose at least $128.5 million in federal funding overall through the efforts of DOGE, with the largest share attributed to LDH.

DOGE’s savings estimates have not always proven reliable, however, and LDH spokesperson Emma Herrock said internal projections suggest the losses will not exceed $86 million.

“The total funding amount canceled should not exceed $86 million, but we will not have a final total until we receive and process all final invoices from contractors,” Herrock said in an email, adding that the department expects the total amount to be “much less” and more accurate projections are expected at the end of April. 

Broader concerns

The cuts come as the state health department is navigating the Trump administration’s rapid-fire changes to federal funding and public health, and how it will affect the agency’s mission and programs.

LDH is the state’s largest agency, with an annual budget of around $20 billion. Nearly 90% of its overall funding is used to administer Louisiana’s Medicaid program, which insures low-income residents and children and provides support for the elderly and people with disabilities. The rest of its budget is mostly used to support public health initiatives across the state.

Congress is considering deep cuts to Medicaid, which could deal a heavy blow to poor states like Louisiana. One in three Louisiana residents relies on the program, and House Republicans are looking at the possibility of slashing federal spending by $880 billion as part of efforts to offset the cost of extending President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts. Democrats expect those cuts to fall heavily on federal Medicaid spending, though GOP leaders have said they aim to achieve cost savings through cutting waste rather than direct benefit reductions.

In addition to Medicaid, LDH oversees services like mental health care, nursing homes, vaccination programs and clean drinking water initiatives. It’s not clear how the cuts initiated by DOGE may impact those programs. 

Health department officials did not respond to questions about which programs or contracts may be affected.

During a March 25 budget hearing, LDH officials initially said they expected a loss of $10 million based on “a series of emails that were slightly difficult to interpret” that they received the night before, according to Karen Stubbs, assistant secretary of the Office of Behavioral Health, who answered questions about the cuts during a state Senate Finance Committee meeting.

At that time, the cuts were predicted to mostly impact mental health and substance use programs.

Cuts to universities, housing programs

The DOGE cuts to LDH programs and other Louisiana institutions are part of a broader push to trim federal spending. They do not include recent layoffs at the federal department of Health and Human Services or freezes to other programs the Trump administration is evaluating, such as those administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s assistance programs for Louisiana farmers. 

But through DOGE, the Trump administration has also identified cuts to contracts or programs at several other Louisiana entities.

According to the DOGE website, the state Department of Agriculture and Forestry is set to lose $18.2 million, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette will lose $3 million, the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center will lose $550,000, the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana will lose $258,655 and the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana will lose over $193,000.

The funding for ULL was slated for the “Grow Your Own” program, which addresses teacher shortages and was expected to impact more than 69,000 students. James Savage, spokesperson at ULL, said the university is appealing the decision.

The Coushatta Tribe was using the now-canceled funds to support the local crawfish market during a difficult post-drought season in 2024. A second distribution planned for 2025 has now been called off.

“The cuts are hard to grasp,” wrote Coushatta Tribe Secretary-Treasurer Kristian Poncho in an email to federal officials.

At the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center, Executive Director Ameca Reali said the organization was owed $275,000 as part of the first payment of a three-year grant. A federal judge in Massachusetts issued a temporary restraining order in late March, pausing the cuts, but HUD has yet to confirm whether the funding will be restored.

“We are the only fair housing agency in Louisiana,” Reali said. “…When faced with housing discrimination, people in Louisiana may have no place to turn.”

Programs at Tulane University — including its School of Medicine and Delta Regional Primate Center — are listed as losing a combined $5.6 million. The university is appealing some of those cuts, said spokesperson Michael Strecker.

The 26 funding cancellations, which run through different federal agencies, are dated between Feb. 10 and March 23.

Half of the 26 are attributed to the Louisiana Department of Health or the Office of Public Health, which is run by LDH.

Staff writer Jeff Adelson contributed to this report.