Health cuts hit families

Pending cuts in state support for public health services pose more problems for local families struggling to make ends meet, said Joanne Campbell, county personal health services manager.

During a March 26 meeting with county commissioners, Campbell reported the Health and Community Services Department provided supplemental care last year for 225 families who qualified for assistance under federal poverty guidelines. The majority were young and employed, and the number did not fully represent the economic hardship facing many county residents, she said.

“We’re not paddling fast enough, that’s for sure,” Campbell said. She said limited resources cripples the department’s ability to connect with everyone who would qualify for publicly-funded health programs.

“I believe that there were at least a few families out there who didn’t get what we would like to be providing.”

With a prescription for balancing the state budget based on a $4.5 million reduction in public health and $11 million cuts in mental health services, expanding local programs to help the poor appears unlikely. The Public Health Department took a $75,000 budgetary blow when county commissioners balanced expenses for 2002. They also boosted fees for service 10 percent. Future funding from the state is not expected to improve; which programs will be trimmed is unclear for now, Campbell said. State funds provide roughly 55 percent of the local health department’s $2.1 million 2002 budget.

“Our current service contracts run through the end of the state’s fiscal year,” said John Manning, director of Community Health Services. “We’ll have a better understanding of what cuts the state has in mind June 30.”

Three years ago, through Medicaid the state paid for delivery of 40 of the 102 babies born in San Juan County, roughly 40 percent. The First Steps program provides coverage for prenatal, delivery and two months postpartum care to families earning 185 percent of the federal poverty mark. The mark rose April 1 to an annual income of $27,792 for a family of three and $22,092 for a single mother.

Commissioner Rhea Miller of Lopez Island said the harsh economic climate reflects a national trend where single mothers and children feel the greatest strain.

“Young families really are suffering,” said Miller, adding local poverty figures underscore the continuing need for more affordable housing and jobs that provide living wages. “On Lopez, 40 percent of the children in school qualify for federally-funded lunches.”

Last year, 391 families were enrolled in the Women, Infants and Children program, 34 more than in 2000. The WIC program, a federal subsidy managed by the state, provides pregnant, postpartum and breast feeding women, infants and children up to age 5 with supplemental foods and nutrition education.

Commission Chairman John Evans of Orcas Island said the battle against local poverty rests with bolstering economic opportunities.

“The challenge for this board, and for us as the Board of Health, is to figure out how to reduce the number of families that qualify for these programs,” Evans said.

— Scott Rasmussen reports on regional government and education for sanjuanjournal.com and The Journal of the San Juan Islands. He can be reached at (360) 378-4191 ext. 13 or email.

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