State: Feds Say La. Owes $239 Million

State health officials say Louisiana will have to repay more than $239 million in federal money that was paid to state-run charity hospitals in the mid-1990s for care provided to uninsured patients.

The Department of Health and Hospitals said it learned late Monday that a federal agency had turned the state's appeal in the matter. In a Tuesday news release state health department Secretary Bruce D. Greenstein said the decision was a disappointment but that the state had been preparing for the possibility.

The DHH statement says the department has already set aside $90 million in the current fiscal year to cover a portion of the payment and are working with state budget officials on plans to pay the additional money as the budget for the 2011-2012 fiscal year is developed.