Blogger – I really am not against helping the underserved. But the lines in this country as to who the truly underserved are have become increasingly murky as the poor have become big business. 30% of our state budget is huge, and will become much more under ObamaCare

This is Colorado State budget information for 2010-2011 and the previous year 2009-2010. 

In the previous year Medicaid was 22% of the budget.  For the current year it is 17.7% of the state budget.

Human Services are 9.2% of the budget.  This includes money for developmental disabilities or mental illness, juvenile delinquents, and children who are the victims of abuse and neglect.

Here are the state numbers, what would you cut and how much?  You have already said you would eliminate Social Security.  What about Medicaid, CHIP, Welfare?  What about the safety net program you mentioned.  What is that and how much percent wise are you willing to spend on this?

97% of the FY 2010-11 General Fund appropriation is devoted to just five areas of service:

• 45.6%, K-12 Education is the largest component of the General Fund budget and was off limits when balancing in FY 2009-10 due to a required 5% General Fund increase.
• 17.7%, Health Care Policy and Financing provides services that are mostly entitlement programs that have a counter-cyclical relationship with the economy. When the economy goes down, Medicaid enrollments go up.
•  9.2%, Human Services are provided to the state’s most vulnerable and highest risk populations such as those with developmental disabilities or mental illness, juvenile delinquents, and children who are the victims of abuse and neglect.
•  15.2%, Corrections, Public Safety and Judicial provides public safety services. Staffing levels that were reduced during the last recession have still not been restored. Judicial staffing was increased pursuant to HB 07-1054.
•  9.3%, Higher Education is one of the last remaining areas of the budget where there continues to be budgetary flexibility and where federal stimulus funds have mitigated major reductions for our state’s colleges and universities.

http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1251665650766&ssbinary=true

a $26 billion plan to give states money for Medicaid and education that the President signed into law on August 10, 2010

http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Colorado_state_budget

Here are the Federal numbers for Health Care Reform.  I have not seen how Health Care Reform affects the sates with the 26 billion dollar kickback but I do know this…

Here are the CBOs Long Term Budget Outlook for 2009 and 2010.  This is pre-Health Care Reform and post-Health Care Reform.  These quotes are taken from the section dealing with health care costs.

Total spending for Medicare is projected to increase to 8 percent of GDP by 2035 and to 15 percent by 2080. Total spending for Medicaid is projected to increase to 5 percent of GDP by 2035 and to 7 percent by 2080. (2009 page 35 in pdf)

Under the extended-baseline scenario, which reflects current law, federal spending for those (Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the insurance subsidies) programs would grow from 5.5 percent of GDP today to about 10 percent of GDP in 2035; about 6 percent of GDP would be devoted to Medicare, and about 4 percent would be spent on Medicaid, CHIP, and the exchange subsidies. (2010 page 41 in pdf)

The Long Term Budget Outlook 2009

http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/102xx/doc10297/06-25-LTBO.pdf

The Long Term Budget Outlook 2010

http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/115xx/doc11579/06-30-LTBO.pdf