So, the House ran the numbers on an all-cuts budget with the current $8 billion deficit. For some reason, the press as a whole isn’t really getting to the bottom of what a 25% cut in State Government would look like.
The State Legislature could probably be more specific so we know what all those government-speak numbers really mean but Joe Turner at the Tacoma News Tribune does take a pretty good shot at it….
1) 100 percent elimination of the Basic Health Plan, the state-subsidize health coverage program for working poor.
2) Elimination of the GAU program which provides assistance to thousands of unemployable people in the state of Washington. (My guess is that we would just see those people homeless and wandering the street).
3) Eliminating about $50 million in funding for community health clinics. (This will probably mean closing several community health clinics around the state since so many of them live so close to the margins already. This will leave thousands of people without any access to health care.)
4) Elimination of adult, dental and vision in the Medicaid program.
5) A 14% cut in reimbursement rates to hospitals.
6) A 10% cut in nursing home reimbursements.
Here’s what Susan Eidenschink (League of Women Voters) said about the potential cuts:
“If the cuts are like that, they’re drastic,” Eidenschink said. “The safety net would be just about demolished.”
Ouch.