Governor’s budget cuts drug, alcohol treatment
HARRISBURG – Thousands of area residents with drug and alcohol addictions may not be able to receive the help they need due to budget cuts to rehab programs proposed by Gov. Ed Rendell. In his first state budget presented Tuesday, Rendell called for eliminating two drug and alcohol programs under the Department of Public Welfare, saving $66 million. If the cuts are passed by the General Assembly, Allegheny County will lose about $7.9 million, Beaver County will lose about $1 million, Fayette County will lose about $800,000, Greene County will lose about $200,000 and Washington County will lose about $1 million.
“Suffering from this will be enormous,” predicted Stephen Roman, a vice president at Gateway Rehabilitation Center, the oldest and largest treatment center in Western Pennsylvania.
“People will die from this. People will lose jobs. Families will be experiencing all kinds of stress.”
The Department of Public Welfare programs provide drug and alcohol treatment and mental health services for people between the ages of 22 and 64 who do not qualify for Medicaid or may have lost their Medicaid coverage.
Advocates say the programs help people in dire need, including pregnant, addicted women, women with children, the working poor, children who need long-term rehabilitation and criminals who are supposed to return to society through drug- and alcohol-treatment programs.
The cuts mean statewide about 30,000 people receiving drug and alcohol and mental health services through two state programs will no longer receive those services, welfare department spokesman Jay Pagni said.
The programs were targeted because they are among a few programs in the department’s budget that don’t receive matching federal dollars, he said. Cutting programs that do get federal money would result in double the loss.
“It was one of most difficult cuts we had to make in the department, however this population is not alone in seeing funding either reduced or eliminated,”
Pagni said. “The state needs to live within its means.”
Locally, “thousands of people” may not be able to get help, if the funds aren’t restored, Roman said. Gateway, which is based in Aliquippa and has 30 locations in the region, treats about 7,000 patients per year, 2,500 of whom receive state assistance.
“Some of these line items for treatment were completely zeroed out and I don’t understand why [Rendell] singled out these people,” said state Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, a longtime advocate for increased rehab spending. The Bucks County Republican voted Thursday to support the budget, but like many lawmakers, he hopes to revisit the issue and add funds later on.
If the cuts remain, Roman said the state could end up paying more in the long-run.
“You’ll end up paying for patients one way or other,” he said. “If they don’t come to us, they’ll end up in the emergency room or jail or causing trouble in another way. It’s so much better and so much easier to provide treatment.”