Published: April 23, 2008 05:06 pm            

In Your View — 04/24/08

Budget cuts will hurt Kentuckians

It’s disheartening to read about the systematic stripping away of consumer protection that’s occurring to balance the budget when a non-functioning legislature refused to find new revenue sources to protect Kentuckians.

The Public Service Commission and the State Board of Nursing, among others, will be losing funding to provide effective enforcement. I fear the worst is yet to come.

The legislature adopted a budget that calls for a $40 million cut in the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Legislators didn’t have the guts to tell Secretary Janie Miller where to make the cuts. They could only give advice that in challenging times everyone needs to “tighten their belts.”

Department of Aging and Independent Living Commissioner Debbie Anderson told the Kentucky Association of Gerontology last week, “It’s pretty hard to tighten your belt when you’re already anorexic.”

Anderson was referring to the nearly 16,000 older and/or disabled Kentuckians who are already on lists waiting for help to stay in their own homes and own communities.

According to 2007 reports from the state’s 15 Area Agencies on Aging, nearly 4,500 people are desperate for a meal to be delivered through the Home Delivered Meal program. Another 5,065 need assistance for basic things like bathing and laundry, and 1,579 need transportation to go to medical appointments or senior centers. This is the tip of the iceberg.

AARP and other aging advocates had been seeking an additional $15 million to meet these simple, basic human needs. We’re holding our breath, feeling the strangle of the tightening belt as we brace for the tragedy that will inevitably occur because a group of dysfunctional elected “public servants” won’t look beyond petty political power and see the suffering they will inflict on vulnerable citizens that are depending on them.

Dr. Karen Cassidy, President, AARP Kentucky

        

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