Georgia Health Officials Outline Proposed Budget Cuts, Await Gov. Barnes Decision
Georgia state health officials, ordered by Gov. Roy Barnes (D) to "trim" 2.5% from this year's spending and 5% from the fiscal year 2003 budget, have outlined a series of budget cuts to the Department of Community Health, the Florida Times-Union reports. Several cuts affect new health programs already funded by the General Assembly but not yet implemented. Barnes halted certain new spending last April after tax collections did not meet previous years' levels. Among the department's proposals:
- Not extending Medicaid health coverage to children in families who earn up to 150% of federal poverty level, saving the state $2 million (Jones/Williams, Florida Times-Union, 11/14). Currently, Medicaid covers most children up to 133% or 100% FPL, depending on their age (Kaiser Family Foundation State Health Facts Online, 11/15).
- Not expanding coverage to 475 people with cystic fibrosis, saving $1.6 million.
- Requiring 70 public hospitals to pay $4.5 million more into the state's Indigent Care Trust Fund.
- Cutting approximately $400,000 in state assistance to companies that make large medical equipment, dental braces and artificial limbs.
Welfare to Work Cuts
The proposed cuts also include the elimination of health care coverage for former welfare recipients who are in their second year of work and don't have employer-sponsored coverage, saving $4.5 million (Florida Times-Union, 11/14). At a Nov. 14 meeting, health advocates urged state officials against such a cut, warning that affected individuals would be "pushed into other areas of the strapped health care community" at a time when economic downturn is likely to put other strains on those resources. "I think it is the wrong thing to be doing in a time of economic turmoil," Russ Toal, former Department of Community Health commissioner and now a department board member, said. But Commissioner Gary Redding said, "Nobody wants to do this, but it's hard to come up with this kind of money without touching some of those programs." Redding estimated that about 4,000 to 8,000 of the 28,000 adults receiving Medicaid benefits under the welfare-to-work program could lose their insurance by 2003 under the proposed cuts (Tharpe, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 11/15).
