Community Clinics Worried About Governor’s Budget Plan

SAN DIEGO — Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget cuts a variety of health care programs for the poor. Community clinics fear they would be forced to pick up the slack.

The governor wants to exclude about 200,000 eligible children from the Healthy Families program. His plan would also reduce enrollment in Medi-Cal.

Tracy Ream directs Neighborhood Healthcare, a network of 11 community clinics in San Diego and Riverside Counties. She says the governor's cuts would hurt.

"Many people who we see have chronic illnesses," Ream says. "Those are folks that are definitely gonna end up with many more problems, and be more of a cost burden to the institutions that provide care, and also to the state, ultimately."

The governor's plan depends on an extra $7 billion in federal help. The cuts will be more severe if that money isn't forthcoming.

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