Government

Schwarzenegger proposes deeper cuts

NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted June 2, 2008

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California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- facing a $17.2 billion budget deficit for fiscal 2008-09 -- last month proposed $5.5 billion in additional cuts, including $1.1 billion in reductions to an array of health and social services. Schwarzenegger had already proposed $7 billion in cuts in January, including a 10% Medicaid pay reduction for physicians, which the state adopted in February. The CMA has filed a lawsuit to block the pay cut, due to take effect July 1.

The latest cuts would save $129 million by instituting limits on legal and undocumented immigrants' Medicaid eligibility, and $31 million by tightening Medicaid eligibility for citizens. Schwarzenegger's cuts would restrict millions of Californians' access to health care, said Richard Frankenstein, MD, president of the California Medical Assn. "If this budget somehow passes and even a fraction of these cuts go into effect, Gov. Schwarzenegger's legacy to the people of California will not be the health care reform he has promised, but instead a health care system damaged beyond belief."

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/06/02/gvbf0602.htm.

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