Spending Cuts? Certainly You Mean After You Increase OUR Budget?
So say health advocates who are seemingly oblivious to budget reductions in the rest of the state.
When Governor Beshear put forward a plan to address the 2010 budget, he said he addressed a shortfall of almost $400 million by freeing up general fund dollars from Medicaid that were being replaced by federal spendulus funds. By doing this, he was able to keep health spending constant while only reducing overall spending by $200 million. The end result was no proposed tax increase, no cuts in Medicaid, and a balanced budget.
This weekend, health advocates complained about this plan, saying they expected spending increases while the rest of the government was cut. Seriously:
"They had the perfect opportunity to take that money and shore up a lot of family-support programs that have been cut and cut and now are going to be cut again,'' said Cathy Allgood Murphy, an advocate with AARP of Kentucky. "It seems like the children and the elderly of this state are being left in limbo once again."
"I'm just absolutely stunned at the insensitivity," said Jim Kimbrough, chairman of a coalition called ARMS -- Advocates for Reforming Medicaid Services. "In my opinion that money should have gone to programs that are state-funded and serve large numbers of people at low costs in their homes."
Bart Baldwin, president of Children's Alliance, a group of private, mostly non-profit agencies that provide residential centers, foster care and other services for abused and neglected children, said funding for such care already has been slashed and many services eliminated. Shifting the Medicaid money out of the cabinet is "disappointing," he said. "In my opinion, all $383 million should have stayed in the cabinet."
Many of these groups receive public support in various forms. Paging John Cheves...
