States and Health Care Programs

States must cut health care programs, By Julie Appleby, February 10, 2011, USA Today: “Lisa Huff says the state-funded Disability Lifeline program in Washington state has lived up to its name, helping her get counseling for depression, treatment for diabetes and support for her ultimate goal: getting a job. Now the program for low-income, temporarily disabled residents is one of many on the chopping block in Washington, where lawmakers face stark choices in closing a projected shortfall of $4.6 billion in their next two-year budget, 2011-13. At risk are some of the very programs seen as national models: a state-subsidized Basic Health insurance plan for low-income residents who don’t qualify for federal help – the first of its kind when it began 20 years ago – and services that help seniors and the disabled stay out of nursing homes, as well as insurance for 27,000 undocumented children…”