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18 June 2002
News Release—For Immediate Attention
Day of Action 20 June, Urging Gov. Bob Holden to Call Special Session to Rework Social Services Budget and Halt Developing “Trail of Tears” in a State of Misery
Concerned citizens will gather at 10:30 a.m., Thursday, 20 June in a Day of Action, in the 1st floor conference room of Paquin Tower, 1201 Paquin St., Columbia to encourage Gov. Bob Holden to display compassion and political courage by refusing to sign the social services budget passed by legislators last month. Signing the bill would shamefully banish thousands of lower-income Missourians, through loss of needed services, to embark upon a new “Trail of Tears” in a State of Misery (Missouri).
At least a half a dozen individuals will share their stories of how proposed budget cuts would affect their lives at the news conference and Day of Action, sponsored by GRO (Grass Roots Organizing), People First, Services for Independent Living and Mid-Missouri FOR (Fellowship of Reconciliation). Participants will, through phone calls, faxes and letters, urge the governor to call a special session to rework the social-services budget. A session may be an expensive proposition, yet the alternatives— denied services to the most vulnerable Missourians, if the bill is signed--are morally unconscionable.
Lawmakers, in their zeal to pass a balanced budget, compelled poorer and disabled state residents to bear a disproportionate and unacceptable burden. Among disturbing features is the proposed slashing of $4.6 million from the Medicaid budget for adult dental care, expected to eliminate coverage for an estimated 88,000 people.
Additionally, legislators approved a $6.5 million gouge from a Medicaid program that has for nearly the past three decades assisted poor families, allowing disabled residents to receive care in their homes instead of residing in nursing homes. Through the program, needy residents have qualified for assistance, if they incur medical expenses leaving them with less than $545 each month, through a process called “spending down.” About 25,000 individuals could be adversely affected through this budget cut.
We are most concerned with the human suffering these budget cuts would cause, yet the legislation is also fiscally irresponsible. While saving money in the short term, these cuts would ultimately cost taxpayers millions of dollars more. The Missouri Dept. of Mental Health and the Dept. of Health and Senior Services, for example, anticipates having to spend up to $12 million to provide prescription drugs to people who would lose Medicaid because of program cuts, nearly twice the amount estimated in savings to the state’s Medicaid budget. Further, while a home caregiver for a disabled resident may cost taxpayers about $4000 a year, an inexpensive nursing home costs Medicaid about $32,000 annually per resident, according to the Dept. of Health and Senior Services.
For more information on the Day of Action or other related matters, contact Mary Hussman (573-474-1983,443-4476) or Cindy Ekstein (573-449-6418).
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