[courtesy of California Progress Report]

• Health budget keep January proposed cuts, goes further in directly denying coverage
• Hundreds of thousands of the poorest working families would lose coverage

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Care Policy Coordinator
Health Access California

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger released the revised version of his budget proposal today, which makes deeper cuts in health and human services programs in order to address the state’s shortfall, which has grown by nearly $3 billion since he first released the budget in January. Altogether, the $100 billion general fund budget is $17.2 billion short.

“The crisis is very real and it is very serious,’’ the governor said. His proposal would attempt to bring in $11.7 billion in new money ($3.5 billion from deficit bonds of years past), and another $5 billion by selling the lottery’s income to Wall Street. Schwarzenegger would cut an additional $12.5 billion from state programs, on top of the $1 billion that was cut earlier this year to help minimize the deficit.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director of Health Access California

Shane Goldmacher at the Sacramento Bee's Capitol Alert has a useful compilation of some of the reactions to the budget. Here's some that touch on the health budget, from Health Access board leaders, member organizations, allies, and others:

Marty Hittelman, president of the California Federation of Teachers: “The governor’s budget revision tries to protect education, but lacks the funding to do it... Shifting the bulk of the cuts to health and human services is a disguised cut to education. These programs aren’t isolated from schools. Our students need to come to school ready to learn, and they can’t do that hungry or sick.” “School kids did not cause this crisis,” said Hittelman. “Their teachers and school staff are being confronted with uncertain futures. It’s time to put in place a fair, stable and progressive funding source for education and other vital services.”

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Would leave many Californians without access to eyeglasses, hearing aids, teeth cleaning or incontinence creams and ointments

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Care Policy Coordinator
Health Access California

The Senate Budget Committee met Monday to comb through $1.6 billion in proposed health budget cuts, which would force the state’s poorest residents to overcome bureaucratic burdens to keep their coverage, and leave many residents without access to eyeglasses, hearing aids, teeth cleaning or incontinence creams and ointments. And that's not including the biggest cuts aimed at the health providers on which all Californians rely.

Some cuts, Chairwoman Denise Ducheny classified as “knee-jerk” policies, and lamented that “some of these savings are so small, we’re spending more time talking about them than what they’re worth,’’ specifically in that instance referring to the $251,000 to be saved (out of a $141 billion budget) by eliminating adult psychology services.

CALIFORNIA’S BUDGET BLUES

Lawmakers need to make big decisions about these and other programs by March in order to avoid a statewide financial catastrophe, such as defaulting on loans, on July 1. The state is short about $14.5 billion.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

• Governor revisits health budget cuts previously rejected as too severe
• Cuts include major provider rate cuts; benefit cuts, including dental
• Health reform proceeds, offers argument against cuts, for revenues

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director of Health Access California

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger returned to his pre-post-partisan days Thursday, unveiling an austere 2008-09 budget that attempts to address a $14.5 billion deficit, and calling a fiscal emergency.

THE BUDGET IN BROAD STROKES

Next year’s $141 billion budget would close parks, cut education funding, and cancel advance payments of budget borrowing from previous years. The budget reduces most state departments and programs by 10 percent, across-the-board.

“Now, some might say that it sounds easy to just cut across the board by 10%, but let me tell you… I can see every single person hurt by those cuts, and I understand how difficult they will be for many, many people,’’ Schwarzenegger said.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Care Policy Coordinator
Health Access California

Judy Lin at the Sacramento Bee describes the budget situation, and anticipates the kinds of cuts that we will be facing.

If the Governor is serious about trying to solve this budget deficit through cuts alone, it's going to be very ugly, with a significant and dire human impact.

What does a 10% cut in health care--roughly a third of the state's budget--mean? Just for Medi-Cal, it sounds small, but:

• A 10% cut in Medi-Cal eligibility would mean denying coverage to 680,000 of the 6.8 million Californians on Medi-Cal--largely low-income children, parents, seniors, and people with disabilities.

• A 10% cut in reimbursement rates in Medi-Cal would be hard, given that Medi-Cal has one of the lowest rates in the nation already (it's one of the things we are trying to fix with health care reform).

• A 10% cut in benefits would mean having to deny millions of people key services. In the previous budget crises, proposals called for denying coverage for a range of benefits in Medi-Cal, including coverage for prosthetic limbs, medical equipment like asthma inhalers and diabetic test strips, and durable medical equipment like wheelchairs.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Kate L McLaughlin

Several years ago on the streets of San Francisco, my husband Mark and I simultaneously experienced both sides of a controversial issue. Our son Michael, freshly released from a psychiatric hospital where he’d received treatment for Bipolar Disorder walked with us. Much improved but still struggling with anxiety, low-level mania, and paranoia, he began to unravel as the day grew long.

Knowing we needed to get Michael back to the hotel, we decided to grab an early dinner. Just outside the restaurant the three of us encountered a homeless man who clearly suffered from symptoms much like Michael’s. Propelled by some magnetic force, these two young men gravitated toward one another with aggressive posturing and angry words. Had Mark not been present to intervene and lead Michael away, violence would have ensued. Instead, however, we guided our son toward greater calm while the other fellow spiraled out of control, his loud rantings echoing through the street until someone eventually called the police. Two young men. Both ill. One, with support, walked away. The other, on the street and alone, went to jail.