States Slash Health Programs In Budget Crisis

[OhioChick]

Source: AP

4:14 pm EDT July 29, 2009

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Aurice Barlow knows what happens when someone can't afford dental care.

"I see people walking the streets with toothaches, teeth hanging out of their mouths," said the former nurse's aide. At least 30 percent of the people in this city of 124,500 are impoverished.

"Nobody cares," she says.

Barlow is worried she'll now become one of them.

Washington is pouring $87 billion in federal stimulus money into the states to help maintain state-run Medicaid health care for the needy -- and to handle the expected surge in enrollment.

But Connecticut and other cash-strapped states say they still must slash spending on health care to cover massive budget deficits. At least 21 states have already restricted low-income children's and families' eligibility for health insurance or their access to services; at least 22 states and the District of Columbia are cutting services for low-income elderly or disabled patients.

Those considering Medicaid cuts are targeting benefits considered optional under federal rules -- such as adults' dental coverage, vision care and some therapy -- as well as cuts or freezes in Medicaid reimbursement. Some states are also looking to cut non-Medicaid or state-funded programs.

In Connecticut, where a budget agreement has not yet been reached, Gov. M. Jodi Rell wants to limit Medicaid dental benefits for adults to emergencies only, saving nearly $51 million over two years.

Read more: http://www.newsnet5.com/health/20216250/detail.html

[Laelth]

1. This makes me ill. n/t

:puke:

:dem:

-Laelth

[rantormusing]

2. How horid

I hope irony comes back to rot out her mouth without insurance.