Poll: Most Californians Oppose Health Care Cuts To Balance State Budget
More than two-thirds of Californians oppose budget cuts to health care and public assistance programs for low-income elderly, blind and disabled, according to a new Field Poll released Wednesday, the Sacramento Bee repots (Smith, Sacramento Bee, 3/24).
The poll was based on a telephone survey of 503 registered California voters from March 9 to March 15. The California HealthCare Foundation provided grant funding for the survey. CHCF is the publisher of California Healthline (Field Poll text, 3/24).
Of the 14 areas of state spending covered in the poll, the majority of voters supported cutbacks in only two areas -- state parks and state prisons (Hindery, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 3/24).
The poll found that:
- 65% of voters oppose cuts to state mental health programs;
- 71% of voters oppose cuts to health care programs for low-income and disabled Californians; and
- 77% oppose cuts to public assistance programs for the elderly and disabled.
Cuts to social services programs were more popular among voters who identified as Republicans than those who identified as Democrats. However, a majority of Republicans still opposed cuts to health care and mental health programs (Field Poll text, 3/24).
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