It’s one thing to talk about cutting programs. It’s something else to talk about the impact that the Governor’s proposed budget cuts will have on real people and real lives. Today, the Legislature’s Budget Conference Committee has heard several hours of testimony, some of it emotional, from Californians concerned about the impact of the Governor’s proposed cuts to health and human services programs. These cuts add up to a staggering $4.9 billion in 2009-10, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
But what would these cuts really mean to everyday Californians? Two recent CBP fact sheets help break down the Governor’s proposed cuts to Medi-Cal and Healthy Families, in numbers that are easier to grasp. These fact sheets show:
- More than 940,000 California children would lose health coverage if the Healthy Families Program is eliminated as the Governor proposes. More than 240,000 children in Los Angeles county alone would be affected. Want to know how many children would be impacted in your county? Check out the fact sheet to see.
- In total, more than 1.9 million Californians could lose access to health coverage within three years through proposed reductions to the Medi-Cal Program and elimination of Healthy Families.
As the Governor said himself today, “behind every one of those dollars that we cut there are real faces.”
— Scott Graves
California Budget Bites 