Hennepin Healthcare faces a $127-million budget shortfall, but its CEO, Jennifer DeCubellis, says there is a proposed budget plan that will eliminate that gap.

“Our 2024 budget actually invests in more paramedics, more nurses, more individuals we’re putting closer to our clinical care services because we know those patient-facing roles are essential,” DeCubellis said.

DeCubellis said will balance the budget by projecting a 6% revenue increase, restructuring contracts with insurance and pharmaceutical companies and raising health insurance premiums for its 7,000 employees by 5%.

“Our health care workers are doing incredible work right now. The real underlying problem is the financing of health care isn’t sustainable,” DeCubellis said. “And, you will see that in your numbers across the nation and in our own market. It’s not sustainable for anyone.”

Sam Erickson, vice president of the Hennepin County Association of Paramedics and EMTs, said the increase in health insurance premiums is not out of line, but deductibles and some prescription medications are no longer available and are not supported by his union or the Minnesota Nurses Association.

“We feel just betrayed, right? These members are not just paramedics. Not just dispatchers, right?” Erickson said. “When the COVID pandemic hit and everyone was working from home and on a Zoom call, when people in our community were sick and dying, right, these were the people who were there. They were answering the phone and they were going out in the ambulance.”

Jeremy Olson-Ehlert, who heads up the Hennepin Healthcare Minnesota Nurses Association, said the higher deductibles and the loss of some prescription medication coverage is a tough financial pill to swallow.

“The benefits to us were very important. And to lose those was a big blow for us. So our members are very united and ready to push back,” Olson-Ehlert said.

The full Hennepin County Board of Commissioners will vote on the proposed Hennepin Healthcare budget on Tuesday.