COURT HOUSE — A program that provides family planning and women’s health services to residents in this county and statewide is terminally ill and in need of resuscitation.
Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a recent measure (S-2139) to restore $7.5 million in funding for the services that was cut from the state budget.
The Cape May County Health Department’s program and similar ones throughout the state provide information, counseling, education and medical services including: pregnancy testing, gynecologic care, pelvic and breast exams, pap tests and sexually transmitted disease testing.
The bill was sponsored by a group of eight legislators and co-sponsored by another group that included Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-1st). It proposed shifting the needed money from the state employees prescription plan, making it a budget-neutral move.
Without these programs, the state is going to see more unwanted pregnancies, more sexually transmitted diseases and more visits to the emergency room — all of which wind up costing taxpayers money, Van Drew suggested.
The governor’s office told the Herald that the excess money isn’t there.
For Christie, the substance of the bill or the need for these health services is not the issue. For Christie, it’s all about the money or lack thereof.
On July 23, the governor issued a release stating unprecedented economic and fiscal difficulties faced by New Jersey as reasons for his veto of this spending bill and two others.
“These bills ignore current economic realities, as evidenced by the $11 billion shortfall in the FY 2011 budget, and would add millions of dollars in unbudgeted additional state spending,” the release stated, noting that it is a levels that taxpayers can afford and “supplemental spending that would return to the unchecked spending and out of control budget shortfalls of the past will not make it past the Governor’s desk.”
The release didn’t address family planning or women’s health.
Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the governor, told the Herald that the budget process involved “long and difficult negotiations” and bipartisan support.
He said the answer to all supplemental spending plans has to be “no.”
“There’s just no more money,” he said.
Van Drew noted that, as a fiscal conservative, he has been very supportive of Christie on about 90 percent of his money saving initiatives.
“In fact, I was one of the only democrats to vote for his budget,” Van Drew told the Herald. “But I think the governor was wrong to veto this bill, not only because of the social and moral need for these health services, but also because in the long run we’re going to spend more money without it.”
Van Drew noted that the state would be losing a “huge amount” of federal funding by dropping this program. The federal government funds
“Sometimes it’s ok to give up the federal funding, but not in this case,” Van Drew said.
Van Drew also noted that there were some legislators who had a problem with any of these funds going to clinics that performed abortions, but he said those issues had been removed from the bill by eliminating participation by those clinics.
Despite the differences in opinion regarding the excess in the state employee prescription fund, Van Drew said “if we wanted to fund the program, we could certainly find the $7.5 million in a $39 billion budget.”
Freeholder Gerald Thornton, who oversees the county Health Department, noted that in addition to the federal and state funding the county would lose if this program is discarded, there would also be the loss of revenue paid by users of the services who pay on a sliding scale based on their incomes.
“I really do see the fiscal problems the governor deals with, but this program gets such high levels of federal funding and revenue from the users, it’ll actually save taxpayers money. It just seems like a no-brainer,” Thornton said. “Besides, the mostly women who utilize this program are of limited resources and have become dependent on the services that have been offered by the county for years.”
County Health Department Director Kevin Thomas said the program serviced 1,670 individuals in 2009 in over 3,000 visits. Statewide, the figures were over 135,000 people in 2009.
“Due to the continuing economic recession those figures have increased this year,” he said. “In the first quarter of 2010, we’re already 45 percent ahead of the projected numbers.”
Thomas said the state had funded $201,000 this past fiscal year, but took back $20,000 when the 2011 budget passed in June. The program operates on reimbursements from the state, he said.
Thomas said one of the keys to the success of the program is confidentiality.
“Many of those who use these services are under 18 years old,” Thomas said. “They seek our help because they don’t have to worry about telling their parents about STDs or contraception. It’s a big benefit.”
Thomas said he feared that many young women would avoid treatment if they didn’t feel comfortable that their parents wouldn’t find out.
But Thomas and others seem to have hope that the program will not go away.
Dick Colosi, another Health Department official and head of the county’s Chronic Illness Coalition, has asked local officials and members of the health care community to write their legislators to request a push to have this funding reinstated. The sample letter he distributed outlined the substantial costs, both financial and human, of losing these health programs and services.
“In closing, Family Planning encourages responsible decisions, promotes healthy families, and is truly a common sense public health investment which pays dividends far exceeding costs,” the letter finished. “It makes up a key part of the “safety net” that protects New Jersey’s most vulnerable citizens. Please do not pull the net out from under this vulnerable population.”
Cape May – Why don’t some of our well established builders even answer their phones, answer texts or emails. Who would ever recommend them to a friend.
