Terminator of hope for disabled children.
[A friend of mine sent me this. This “cap” idea is the sickest thing imaginable… talk about “healthcare rationing”, that’s what we’re going to get… people don’t stop getting sick, just because the number of slots in a program has filled up. Of course, last year’s budget, under a Democratic Governor and Legislature (held hostage by a Republican minority, yes), had some pretty vicious cuts as well. Donna Arduin (on loan from Jeb Bush in Florida, of all places) is the Darth Vader of public finance - choking the life out of programs, and the people in them. -Thomas]
Same Old Song in Sacramento?
Terminator of hope for disabled children
Patricia Kemerling
Thursday, December 11, 2003
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URL: sfgate.com/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/12/11/EDGQV3JR2R1.DTL
My sister would not be alive if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget proposals had been in effect in our home state of Wisconsin. Born with spina bifida and other severe disabilities, she could not have survived without early diagnosis and intervention. Thankfully, Wisconsin provided the services she needed to survive; today, she lives with her two nondisabled children and their father.
Many Californians born with developmental disabilities or severe health problems also have benefited from early diagnosis and intervention. They work and live in their own communities, thanks to their efforts and the assistance of caregivers. But now, our new governor wants to create waiting lists for services for babies born with spina bifida and other severe disabilities. In some of these cases, waiting equals death.