Missouri, Maine Governors Move To Protect Funding for Health Care Programs

Missouri Gov. Bob Holden (D) declared a state of "economic emergency" on March 4 in an attempt to free up millions of dollars for health care services for the elderly, people with mental illnesses and individuals with disabilities, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Holden, facing a $612 million budget deficit in the fiscal year beginning July 1, declared the emergency as a first step needed to release $135 million from the state's Budget Reserve Fund, also known as the rainy day fund. Using the rainy day fund also requires the approval of two-thirds of both chambers in the state Legislature. If approved, $56 million of the fund would go to community-based psychiatric services, $15.8 million for substance abuse treatment, $4 million for personal care assistance for the elderly, $868,000 for expanded health screenings for newborns and $275,000 to monitor the quality of health services. Some Republicans have said they oppose using the fund in the manner Holden has proposed. "The state is in a difficult situation, but it is not a disaster," state Sen. Chuck Gross (R) said, adding that Holden committed "budget blackmail" by counting on the rainy day fund to pay for the services. In addition, some mental health advocates said they are concerned that Holden is taking a risk by assuming he can use the emergency money. But state Rep. Vicky Wilson (D), chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee for Health and Mental Health, said that the services Holden wants to pay for using the rainy day fund would save the state money in the long run by allowing individuals with mental illnesses to receive care at home or in the community instead of in institutions. "From a humanitarian standpoint and from a strictly economic standpoint, this is an option we have to look at seriously," she said (Bell, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 3/4).

Restoring Funds in Maine
The administration of Maine Gov. Angus King (I) on Feb. 27 presented to the state Legislature's joint Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee a revised version of his supplemental budget proposal that restores several cuts to health programs, including Medicaid, the Portland Press Herald reports. King, attempting to offset a $248 million shortfall in the current two-year budget cycle, had proposed in January cuts to Medicaid reimbursements to nursing homes and reductions in community-based mental health services. But after the state's revenue forecasting panel predicted last week that the state will have an additional $91 million in revenue over the next two years, administration officials determined that the cuts were no longer necessary. Among the funding expected to be restored in the supplemental budget revision is a $21.8 million proposed cut to the state Department of Human Services, a $11.9 million cut to mental health programs and cuts in payments to nursing and group homes. Kay Rand, King's chief of staff, said, "We are proposing to restore almost all the Medicaid cuts" made to services offered through the Human Services Department and the Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services. King, however, did not propose restoring $13.7 million to the Fund for a Healthy Maine, a program funded by the state's tobacco settlement money that pays for health-related services, such as prescription drugs for seniors, smoking prevention and cessation programs and child care services (Murphy, Portland Press Herald, 2/27).