Disabled, poor Floridians seeing many cuts to programs that serve them

From the Tallahassee Democrat:

Mary Ann Sanderford has a creative eye that she uses when she goes to the Pyramid adult day training site on Tennessee Street.

She has made a toy ambulance out of lumber, a toy bus out of Vienna sausage cans and colorful jewelry. Though she has sold her wares and gained confidence through the art program, her time there has become a victim of state budget cuts. Sanderford, 46, who suffers from Muscular Dystrophy, has had to shave her days from five to three a week at Pyramid, an art-based adult day training program, because of less funding.

“It just doesn’t seem fair,” said Sanderford, who is bound to a wheelchair. “It was like having candy snatched from you.”

Sanderford is one of many who are either disabled, poor or laid off that depends on the state for assistance, but receives less funding because of a tanking economy and the resulting budget cuts. When the legislative session begins March 3, lawmakers will have to decide where to further cut an already bare-bones budget. Many who work in health care and social services say cuts have already been deep, and more could be devastating.As more state departments receive cuts, so do the people they serve.

At the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, which assists Sanderford, there is a list with 18,000 people waiting for services.

“We will not be able to get anyone off that list until the economy picks up,” said APD spokesman Melanie Mowry Etters.

During the recent special session that legislators used as a midyear budget fix, the agency lost 175 positions, vacant but now never to be filled.

“We are hopeful our customers don’t experience any more reductions,” Etters said. “Most legislators know our customers have felt the impact of the cuts.”

Those cuts are also affecting Florida hospitals, who are receiving lower reimbursement rates for serving Medicaid patients. Consequently, those costs are passed to those with health insurance.

“Businesses are either dropping insurance or reducing the amount of coverage and shifting the costs to workers,” said Bruce Rueben, president of the Florida Hospital Association.

He said Florida hospitals receive 53 cents to 89 cents for every dollar of cost for a Medicaid patient. The Legislature cut Medicaid reimbursement rates by 4 percent in the last special session and 6 percent in 2008.

“That’s a quarter billion dollars in cuts,” Reuben said.

By most accounts, the lines for those who need help are getting longer.

In the Big Bend, officials with the Capital Area Community Action Agency, which offers emergency assistance, homeless services, utility assistance, food vouchers and bus passes, say the need for help is increasing.

“A lot of people are finding themselves in dire circumstances,” said Dorothy Inman-Johnson, executive director of the CACAA. “When we open our doors, we usually have people in lines waiting. . . . People with higher education, people who have worked all their lives, it’s a very diverse crowd.”

The Head Start program the agency offers, which gives free care to 3- and 4-year-olds who come from low-income households, is full but last year had trouble filling spots, Inman-Johnson said.

“The state has to do its fair share,” Inman-Johnson said. “The Legislature can’t depend on the federal government to bail it out.”

Sylvie Kramer, president of the Florida Association of Healthy Start Coalitions, will keep a sharp eye on this legislative session, also. Her non-profit group, which works to improve the health of pregnant woman and their babies, receives funding from the state and local communities.

“The funding is decreasing and it’s decreasing on all sides,” said Kramer. “I’m concerned we will have to turn women away (with more cuts). My case manages can only do so much.”

In the recent special session, the Legislature voted to reduce the coalition’s cut from 4 percent to 1.6 percent.

“It shows the legislators care,” Kramer said, of the partially restored funding. “But the year is not over.”

Meanwhile, others like Sanderford, will have to learn to do with less.

Sanderford, who lives in a group home managed through the Leon Advocacy and Resource Center, now spends her off days watching television.

Marilyn Yon, chief operating officer at Pyramid, said, “For Mary Ann, this has limited her income.”

“Businesses are either dropping insurance or reducing the amount of coverage and shifting the costs to workers,” said Bruce Rueben, president of the Florida Hospital Association.

He said Florida hospitals receive 53 cents to 89 cents for every dollar of cost for a Medicaid patient. The Legislature cut Medicaid reimbursement rates by 4 percent in the last special session and 6 percent in 2008.

“That’s a quarter billion dollars in cuts,” Reuben said.

By most accounts, the lines for those who need help are getting longer.

In the Big Bend, officials with the Capital Area Community Action Agency, which offers emergency assistance, homeless services, utility assistance, food vouchers and bus passes, say the need for help is increasing.

“A lot of people are finding themselves in dire circumstances,” said Dorothy Inman-Johnson, executive director of the CACAA. “When we open our doors, we usually have people in lines waiting. . . . People with higher education, people who have worked all their lives, it’s a very diverse crowd.”

The Head Start program the agency offers, which gives free care to 3- and 4-year-olds who come from low-income households, is full but last year had trouble filling spots, Inman-Johnson said.

“The state has to do its fair share,” Inman-Johnson said. “The Legislature can’t depend on the federal government to bail it out.”

Sylvie Kramer, president of the Florida Association of Healthy Start Coalitions, will keep a sharp eye on this legislative session, also. Her non-profit group, which works to improve the health of pregnant woman and their babies, receives funding from the state and local communities.

“The funding is decreasing and it’s decreasing on all sides,” said Kramer. “I’m concerned we will have to turn women away (with more cuts). My case manages can only do so much.”

In the recent special session, the Legislature voted to reduce the coalition’s cut from 4 percent to 1.6 percent.

“It shows the legislators care,” Kramer said, of the partially restored funding. “But the year is not over.”

Meanwhile, others like Sanderford, will have to learn to do with less.

Sanderford, who lives in a group home managed through the Leon Advocacy and Resource Center, now spends her off days watching television.

Marilyn Yon, chief operating officer at Pyramid, said, “For Mary Ann, this has limited her income.”