Massachusetts Governor cuts disability programs
With falling revenues hitting all states is was a matter of time before the programs that the disabled need were cut. Massachusetts lost revenue from families unable to pay for their property taxes or income taxes and has put the state in a tough situation. Many programs have been cut and state workers all over the country have had their wages cut or had to deal with lay-offs in an effort to balance budgets. However, for the last two weeks of October disabled people and their caregivers held a vigil to let the Governor know that the disabled require state services to stay alive and healthy. After the vigil the Governor said that he would keep the programs disabled people use funded but at the last minute he decided to cut many programs that are vital to the disabled community. The programs that have been cut include day rehabilitation, adult dental rehabilitation services, personal care attendant services, podiatry services and adult foster care. The disabled depend more on state and federal help than other groups because they typically live on Social Security Disability which typically pays for rent, food and a few other things. Anything after that is almost impossible to pay for and these state services make it possible for people to get foot care help or get their teeth cared for. Instead these people have to hope that family can find money to pay for these services, and many of these people are dealing with lay-offs and reduced pay as companies try to stay in business in our present economic environment. Because the disabled have no where else to turn to when these services disappear, they will be forced to live with foot problems or fillings that need repair. (Source: Wicked Local Reading)
Hopefully the state will ask the federal government for help on these programs before large groups of people are effected by the cuts. These may not seem a big deal but if these people don’t take care of simple problems with their feet and teeth, those problems will become worse and will cost more to get fixed. This means going to the emergency room and putting strain on other state budget areas that would not normally have to handle these issues. Perhaps the state can look at all of the areas of the budget and spread the cuts over a larger area so that people are not hit as hard. If Boston were to cut the hours that state agencies were open by a few hours a week that could make a lot of money available to prop up services like the ones needed by the disabled community until either the economy improves or federal money becomes available. While families should be there for the disabled, they cannot always have money available because they have their own bills and children that need to be helped. Medical bills tend to be expensive and many people now do not have the extra money that they used to that could be used to pay for bills that popped up with out notice. Hopefully the work that has been done in the senate will make it easier for everyone to get health insurance and to get medical help. Otherwise hospital emergency rooms are going to be filled to capacity with people that don’t have emergencies, but do not have anywhere else to go to get help.,
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