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December 7, 2007

Budget request would cut healthcare for thousands

The Department of Human Services has plans to cut health benefits for thousands of low-income Rhode Islanders, according to the budget proposal for the coming fiscal year released today. The lengthy proposal includes several cuts affecting many programs, institutions and childcare providers, but the area hit hardest appears to be RIte Care, the state’s subsidized healthcare program.

New co-payments would be required for some, while RIte Care eligibility would be cut altogether for almost 16,000 people (including 8,500 children), and another 2,000 children of undocumented immigrants. Adults earning more than 133 percent of the federal poverty level ($22,836 for a family of three) would lose coverage. Current law allows coverage for those making less than 150 percent, or $25,755 for a family of three.

Nursing homes and hospitals may also be hit hard, as the proposal calls for reduced reimbursement rates.

The cuts also include the elimination of exceptions that allow welfare benefits for longer than 60 months. Roughly half of Rhode Island’s 10,755 welfare recipients have been on the rolls for more than five years.

The governor has yet to endorse the changes, but, given the state's fiscal situation, dramatic cuts are likely.

The proposed cuts are part of the state’s effort to close a deficit for the coming year projected as high as $450 million, or more than 13 percent of current state expenditures. The hole is blamed largely on flat income and sales tax receipts due to a weak regional and national economy.

And while Governor Carcieri hopes to shave $100 million from the deficit through a sweeping work-force reduction plan, the bulk of the $450-million hole will be made up by cuts to state departments and human service programs. The governor has pledged not to raise taxes to help balance the budget.

“It is…important to note that the governor has made no final decisions regarding specific proposals included in individual department budget requests,” said Carcieri’s spokesman Jeff Neal. “Final decisions will be included in the budget plan that the governor submits in January.”

The budgetary process on Smith Hill begins when the agency budget requests are submitted to the governor’s budget office. All requests were due by Oct. 1, but most departments missed the deadline. The governor subsequently uses the requests to shape his proposed budget, which is due the third week in January.

The General Assembly spends the next several months reviewing and debating the governor’s budget and ultimately approves its own budget in early summer.

-- Steve Peoples of the Journal State House Bureau

Posted by Steve Peoples  at 1:10 PM | Permalink

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Greg | December 7, 2007 1:35 PM link

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