Gov. Bobby Jindal says he's confident LSU's network of public hospitals and clinics will protect health care services, despite cuts that strip a quarter of the system's funding.
Lawmakers have said they don't understand how the university-run health care system can shrink its budget by $329 million this year without shutting facilities that take care of the poor and uninsured.
But Jindal on Tuesday told reporters that "LSU is well on their way to presenting a plan that's going to protect critical services."
The governor, whose administration has been criticized as downplaying the severity of the cuts, said LSU will have to "work aggressively to do more with less."
The Jindal administration made $523 million in health cuts this month after a change in the state's federal Medicaid funding.