The Schwarzenegger administration recently released its revised 2008-2009 budget proposal, which includes a total of $3.4 billion in cuts to health and human services in an effort to reduce the state’s $17.2 billion budget deficit. The state’s financial outlook is even bleaker then anticipated when the Governor released his previous budget proposal in January. Schwarzenegger cut an additional $1.1 billion from health and human services than he had his initial budget proposal.
The proposed budget would, among other things, cut back Medi-Cal eligibility for certain adults from 100 percent of the federal poverty level ($17,600 annually for a family of three) to 61 percent ($10,736). The Governor estimates that this cut will save $31 million. The proposal would also eliminate coverage for most nonemergency services for recently-documented and undocumented immigrants, with an estimated savings of $86 million.
Additionally, the budget maintains the 10 percent provider rate cut that was proposed by the Governor in January and subsequently approved by the Legislature. Earlier this month, CMA and a coalition of health care providers filed a lawsuit against the state of California to stop the Medi-Cal provider rate cut, which is scheduled to take effect on July 1.
“These budget cuts will devastate access to health care for millions of poor Californians and will wreak havoc on the ability of middle class Californians to meet their health care needs,” says CMA President Richard S. Frankenstein, M.D. “If this budget somehow passes and even a fraction of these cuts go into effect, Governor Schwarzenegger’s legacy to the people of California will not be the health care reform he has promised, but instead a health care system damaged beyond belief.”
Click here to view a summary of the governor's budget as it relates to health care.
