Government Health Programs May be Cut in Massachusetts and Ohio to Balance Budgets, Governors Say

Agencies within the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services and the state's Medicaid program would lose $115 million and $140 million respectively under cuts proposed by acting Gov. Jane Swift (R) in an amendment to her budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning July 1, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports. The state Department of Mental Health, part of the Health and Human Services department, would have to cut $16 million from its $611 million annual budget. According to the Telegram & Gazette, the department is considering a $5 million cut that would eliminate 1,200 beds in government-run inpatient facilities for people with mental illnesses and a $2 million cut in funding for 6,200 community residential programs for people with mental illnesses, as well as other cuts. The cut to inpatient facilities could force the department to close one of its hospitals, the Telegram & Gazette reports. Richard Copp, a Health and Human Services spokesperson, said the agency will try to avoid cutting "direct services" to people with mental illness (Hammel, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, 4/10).

Ohio Troubles
Ohio Gov. Bob Taft (R) last week asked state legislators to give him the authority to restructure the state's Medicaid program to help alleviate a $750 million state budget shortfall in the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, the Columbus Dispatch reports. If given such power, Taft might reduce or end certain Medicaid benefits. The Dispatch reports that other states facing budget deficits have cut Medicaid reimbursements for prescription drugs, required doctors to obtain permission from the state before prescribing drugs and charged copayments for various drugs. Taft said he would also consider using $350 million of the state's "rainy-day fund" or imposing an additional tax on cigarettes to balance the budget (Leonard, Columbus Dispatch, 4/5).