Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Highlights Recent Budget Developments in Alabama, Maine, Maryland
Summaries of recent news about state budgets in Alabama and Maine appear below.
- Alabama: Gov. Bob Riley's (R) proposed $1.95 billion general fund budget for fiscal year 2009 does not include sufficient funds to pay for at least four state health programs that provide services to thousands of residents, according to Alabama Department of Public Health Officer Don Williamson, the Birmingham News reports. Williamson said the governor's budget proposal does not include enough funding for All Kids, the state's version of SCHIP; the state's AIDS Drug Assistance Program; the Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, which helps about 1,200 low-income women pay for mammograms and Pap tests; and the Alabama Home and Community-Based Waiver Program, which provides elderly and dependent people with at-home services and care. According to Williamson, without an additional $7.3 million, the state will have to freeze All Kids enrollment, and, through attrition, the number of children enrolled could decline. Williamson also said that cuts in state funding for the programs will result in reduced federal matching funds (Parks, Birmingham News, 3/19).
- Maine: Two Republican members of the state House Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday proposed a package of budget cuts to close a $190 million gap in the two-year $6.3 billion state budget, the Portland Press Herald reports. The proposal would require state employees to pay 10% of their health insurance premiums and would bar them from enrolling in MaineCare. The lawmakers also proposed changing the income eligibility limit for MaineCare so fewer people qualify for coverage and freezing MaineCare benefits for childless adults (Cover, Portland Press Herald, 3/19).
- Maryland: The state House on Thursday voted 105-34 to approve a $31.2 billion fiscal year 2009 budget, the Washington Post reports. The House budget legislation includes $15.1 million to expand access to oral health services and $10 million for a small-business health subsidy program created during a special legislative session last year. The House version contains deeper spending cuts than the state Senate proposal. A revised state revenue forecast released this month estimated that the state would take in $333 million less than expected in this fiscal year and next year (Wagner, Washington Post, 3/21).
