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House budget proposal: Health and Human Services cuts
Proposed cuts to the six major areas of state government were released tonight. I'm posting my notes as I look through them.
Posted — UpdatedBy Laura Leslie
Proposed cuts to the six major areas of state government were released tonight. I'm posting my notes as I look through them.
The House's Health and Human Services budget was a lot less complete than other proposals when it was released today. All we got was numbers – the policy framework we need to hang them on won’t come out till Wednesday afternoon.
Still, some of those numbers are interesting.
HHS
- Overall, the proposed House cut to HHS would be about 10% - far higher than the 4% Governor Perdue proposed in February. Some of the spending cuts would be realized by swapping out state dollars for federal block grants. Others, including $80 million less for Community Care, would be “realized as savings” through programs that haven’t been fully implemented yet.
- Smart Start - 20% cut. More at Four would be moved under the Division of Child Development along with Smart Start, after having been cut by $30M. Parents will be asked to contribute a co-pay – how much, we don’t know yet. 2654 slots will be cut, leaving 29,000 for low-income children statewide.
Central Management and Support - 16.5% cut
- 250 positions cut
- NC Care line (HHS information and referral) eliminated
- Cut non-profit-funding by $5M (remaining state funding is about $70M)
- Community Health Grants state funds cut 23%
- Eliminate state funds for Migrant Fee for Service program
Aging and Adult Services - 14.0% cut
- Eliminate all funding for volunteer development
- Cut state funding for Senior Centers by 47%
Division of Public Health - 3.0% cut
- 10% administrative reduction for the Office of Minority Health
- Merging of the Office of Healthy Carolinians and Health Education
Division of Medical Assistance (Medicaid) – 10.1% cut
- Reimbursement rates would decrease by 2% for all providers except physicians
- No inflationary increases
- The Medicaid “rebase” – the re-assessment of the program’s cost as it grows – would be $104M for 2012-13, less than half the governor’s estimated $252 million
- Modify pharmacy and other Medicaid services
Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse – 9.4% cut
- Vocational Rehab Services – 11.8% cut
- Reduce Basic Support by 10%
NC Health Choice – 10.1% cut
- Most of the money would come out of Care Coordination, a $4.5M cut
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