1-03AddlStateBudgetCuts.html

ADDITIONAL STATE BUDGET CUTS

Details are still being announced, but this is what Partner's Government Relations says are Gov. Romney's cuts for this fiscal year:

"Of the $343 million in immediate cuts, the breakdown and details (as we know them now) are as follows:

Health and Human Services- $133 million, 40% of total
Local Aid $114 million, 33% of total
Education/Higher Ed $41 million 12% of total
All Other Spending $55 million 16% of total

Division of Medical Assistance: Medicaid.- The Division's budget, totaling about $5.6 billion at the beginning of the fiscal year, is cut by $75.2 million with the largest reductions as follows:

$27 million from MassHealth managed care expenditures (of roughly $1.6 billion)
$22 million in MassHealth long term care expenditures (of roughly $1.8 billion)
$16 million in MassHealth indemnity expenditures (of roughly $1 billion)

Department of Mental Health.- The mental health budget, totaling approximately $600 million, is cut by $2.3 million. The largest cut is to adult community mental health services, which is reduced by $1 million this fiscal year (of approximately $260 million).

Department of Public Health.- DPH programs, which endured a 17 percent funding cut at the beginning of the fiscal year, absorbed an additional $21 million in budget cuts, with the largest cuts as follows:

$7.6 million in smoking prevention and school-based health services (of $24 million)
$3 million in smoking prevention and cessation programs (of $11 million)
$3 million from the AIDS program (of $39 million)
$3 million from state hospital spending (of $110 million)
$1 million in Hepatitis C mitigation funding (of $2 million)
$1.1 million in teen pregnancy prevention funding (of $3.5 million)
$500,000 from breast cancer detection and research funding (of $3.5 million).

Worth noting… Governor Romney is also at work on his FY 04 budget proposal which will be unveiled at the end of February…"

01/03