As noted in “Way #7: Mixed News for Community Health Centers and Dental Health Care” and “Way #9: Extra Cut to Tobacco Use Control Grants”, the budget bill contains cuts to a broad range of public health programs, some of which were lessened by the budget process and some worsened. However, in today’s post we will be discussing the general 10% cuts to public health programs.

The budget cuts about $7.7 million per year from 47 different programs. The largest of these cuts are: $1,062,800 General Purpose Revenue (GPR) from mental health treatment services; $959,200 Program Revenue (PR) from Department of Health Services (DHS) licensing and certification activities; $638,700 GPR from HIV/AIDS services; $610,000 GPR from community health centers; $417,500 GPR from Community Support Programs and psychological services; $316,000 GPR from services and operations for congenital disorders; $300,500 GPR from funding for dental services; $217,800 GPR from emergency medical service aids; $99,500 GPR from rural health dental clinics; and $99,400 GPR from lead poisoning and exposure services. The 10% cut was restored to one program, the Wisconsin Well Woman Program. In the Administration’s letter requesting modifications to the Governor’s budget, the Joint Finance Committee was asked to restore full funding to this program, which provides breast and cervical cancer screenings and diagnostic services to uninsured or underinsured women ages 45-64 with incomes below 250% of the Federal Poverty Level. This is a valuable program, and while we are relieved that funding was restored, many other programs deserved full funding as well.

Other programs of particular concern to kids and families include the Emergency Food Assistance Program; the Statewide Poison Control Program; the Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); Pregnancy Outreach and Infant Health; and programs targeted to the Native American community.

Health programs in our communities, often prevention-focused, have a huge impact on people’s everyday lives. When cuts are made to these sorts of programs, they should be targeted to inefficiencies, and not arbitrary general cuts that impact Wisconsinites’ access to care, health, and well-being.

Sara Eskrich

Tomorrow—Way #29: Making it More Difficut To Succeed on W-2

About the series: “31 Ways in 31 Days” is a series of posts to the WCCF blog exploring the recently-passed biennial budget’s impact on children and families in Wisconsin. Each day in July, we are posting a description of one way the budget will affect kids and families, with an eye toward what should be done going forward to help improve outcomes and move us closer to the goal of making Wisconsin a place where every child has the opportunity to grow up, learn, and thrive in a safe, healthy, economically secure home and community.