Despite the snowstorm, Penn State President Graham Spanier will meet with the House Appropriations Committee today at 10 a.m. His appearance before the Senate Appropriations Committee, originally scheduled for 2:45 p.m., has been postponed.

Penn State spokesman Tysen Kendig said a new time for the Senate meeting, which will also include representatives from the University of Pittsburgh, Temple University and Lincoln University, has not been set.

In Gov. Ed Rendell's 2005-06 budget, Penn State received $324.2 million, $10.6 million less than the Board of Trustees requested in September.

Kendig said Spanier will request an additional $10 million today to restore its funding to the amount it received in the 2001-02 fiscal year.

"I worry about our high level of tuition and the need to hold such increases down," Spanier said in an e-mail message. "Since we are already cutting the budget, the only way to do that is to increase the appropriation."

Spanier said tuition might increase if Penn State does not receive the money it is requesting. He also said the university is trying to cut spending.

"If we are denied additional funding, we will engage in further budget cuts and give out smaller pay raises," he said. "But we will also need to increase tuition even more -- something we are averse to doing."

While this year's appropriation was a two percent increase from the $317.1 million received last year, Penn State Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz said there were significant cuts in other areas such as the funding given to the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Children's Hospital.

According to the Web site www.budget.psu.edu, Penn State requested $10.2 million for the medical center and children's hospital; however, Rendell is proposing an appropriation of only $6.2 million.

Schultz said this could be due to President George W. Bush's proposed $60 million cut in Medicaid funding.

"The federal government is proposing changes in its support of medical assistance, and I think that it certainly is a factor Gov. Rendell is considering," he said.

Sean Young, director of strategic services for the medical center, said Pennsylvania providers receive 75 percent reimbursement of what they provide to Medicaid eligible patients.

"Most other states receive reimbursements significantly closer to cost, many in the 99 percent range," he said in an e-mail message. "Since the medical center is already reimbursed by Medicaid at roughly 25 percent below the actual cost related to providing care to Medicaid eligible patients, any reduction in Medicaid funding is potentially bad news."

Young said a decline in Medicaid funds would take away funds from other areas of need.

"Declining reimbursements have a direct impact on our ability to invest in technology, facilities and our healthcare work force," he said.

The medical center may not be the only state-funded medical program to feel the impact of Bush's proposed Medicaid cut.

"These budgets will have a severe impact, particularly on our hospital," Dr. Albert Finestone, director of the Institute on Aging at the Temple University School of Medicine, said in an e-mail message. "We are located in North Philadelphia, the home of a largely poor, minority population ... the budget cuts will underwrite the care since our mission is not to turn anyone away."

Spanier said in an e-mail message that because of the federal cuts in Medicaid funding, Penn State will try to receive additional funds through direct appropriations.

"We are hopeful that the legislature will be able to provide these funds as a direct appropriation rather than from Medicaid transfers, since that funding source has some risk," he said.