North Carolina is grappling with a series of budgetary problems this term. The latest to receive media attention is the expected shortfall in funding for Medicaid programs that serve our state’s most vulnerable populations: the poor, the elderly and the disabled. Early projections are that we will face a $139 million shortfall. N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Lanier Cansler called the savings needed to maintain the projected budget “unreasonable and unattainable.”
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This will be a disaster for those in need, especially since I and my colleagues worked so hard during the 2009-10 session to weed out abuse and fraud in Medicaid programs. With that effort so successful, the cuts thrust upon Medicaid now amount to real pain for real people. The cuts mean people who really need help just might not get it because the fat has already been trimmed from the Medicaid budget.
During this year’s budget session, I forewarned that North Carolina residents would be harmed by these actions. I proposed an amendment to the budget that would protect several important programs beneficial to Medicaid recipients: preventative dental care for adults, occupational speech and physical therapy, personal care for adults, hospice and palliative care. It is unconscionable that a program aimed at helping patients who are dying from a terminal illness such as cancer could be eliminated under the current budget. People have the right to die with dignity at home regardless of their income.
Others have the right to receive other services at their home. I recently received a letter from a constituent in Vance County who is living with the fear that she may not be able to care for her 41-year-old autistic brother at home any longer because of proposed Medicaid budget cuts. “My brother will never experience a cure or be able to take medications to make him functional in society…. However, he is a happy 41-year-old because I am helping him live the best life possible through maintaining his everyday care and needs…. He requires 24/7 care. He is an important member of our family. The services he receives saves the state an immeasurable amount of money by keeping him in the least restrictive environment possible: at home with his family. I beg you to stop cutting Medicaid services. The negative impact on our lives is far too great!”
The amendment I proposed was, unfortunately, voted down along party lines. This leaves the General Assembly with a difficult task ahead. For every dollar we cut, we lose approximately 2 dollars in federal matching funds. The full impact of an additional reduction of $139 million dollars equates to $417 million dollars in additional cuts they may have to be made. The General Assembly most likely will take up the issue during a brief session to be scheduled sometime in November.