Not best way to balance budget

To the editor:

The analysis of the 2006 federal budget by the nation's governors found that the Medicaid program has grown greatly because health-care inflation is running two to three times the general inflation rate. Because more people are uninsured and there are more elderly disabled adults, the Medicaid caseload has increase 33 percent. Medicaid administrators have worked to pare services and limit eligibility.

Gov. Matt Blunt has called for a $231 million cut in Medicaid. Cuts also were proposed in the Children's Health Insurance Program and the First Steps program. The Bellefontaine Habilitation Center, which takes care of many people with severe difficulties, is to be closed.

There will be severe consequences if these cuts occur. A recent St. Louis Business Journal article said Missouri would see economic activity drop by $150 million a year. There would be a net loss of 2,000 jobs. Articles by Eric Mink and Judith Van Dewater in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said there would be increased deaths and disabilities created by the loss of health care for 120,000 Missourians. Medicaid has been a hugely successful program and costs less than private insurance.

The Missouri League of Women Voters doesn't believe the best way to balance the Missouri budget is to cut Medicaid and the other programs that help our most vulnerable citizens.

Dr. REA BECK KLEEMAN, Health Director, Missouri League of Women Voters, St. Louis