The Governor's new budget proposal shows more than one and a
half billion dollars in overall reductions to health and human
services.
That includes almost a half billion dollars in spending cuts
to health providers and home care.
Anthony Wright of Health Access says nursing homes and
hospitals would be hurt by this budget.
He says it's hard to overstate the severity of recent cuts on
the health safety net.
WRIGHT: "We've been eviscerating the
safety net, some core services that all Californians rely on
especially when they're down on their luck."
In the revised budget, In Home Supportive Service hours would
be reduced by seven percent.
And people in the state's health plan for the poor would be
asked to pay a small fee towards their doctor's appointments and
prescriptions.
Vanessa Cajina from the Western Center on Law and Poverty says
the new budget would be hard on poor people.
CAJINA: "It's a part of a trend
of the administration to be requiring more from people as the
state's fiscal situation gets tougher. But these are people who are
just absolutely not in a place to be able to put up that kind of
cash, or to give up those benefits."
Some of the changes are pending federal approval, or may be
challenged in court.
