Legislative Committee Approves Budget With Reductions in Health Care Spending
A special legislative committee on Saturday voted in favor of a $102 billion state budget that reduces new funding for some programs, including health care services, the AP/Contra Costa Times reports (Haussler, AP/Contra Costa Times, 6/23). The budget is "largely" the result of negotiations between Gov. Gray Davis (D) and the Democratic leadership of the state Legislature, who "struggled" to cut spending by $1.2 billion to "build a bigger reserve" for the state (Tamaki, Los Angeles Times, 6/24). As part of the reductions, the budget proposal reduced funding increases for indigent health care (AP/Contra Costa Times, 6/23). However, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Democrats were able to maintain funding to expand Healthy Families eligibility to parents of enrolled children. In addition, Democrats "successfully fought" to offer breast and cervical cancer screenings to poor women through Medi-Cal and to "extend the life" of a program for immigrants' health care (Lucas, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/24). A $30 million plan to "bolster" the state's trauma care system also "escaped" the cutbacks (Los Angeles Times, 6/24). The budget must now pass both the Assembly and Senate with a two-thirds vote in each chamber (San Francisco Chronicle, 6/24).
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