Deep cuts in the new state budget are causing major service disruptions at the state-owned Lee Specialty Clinic, which provides vital medical care to 1,300 patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
These budget cuts will result in the clinic losing $4.5 million, or 66% of its budget, leaving many of its patients without care.
“The need for a place like this is just so great that we have that wait list,” one employee told Louisville Public Media. “To hear that not only are those people on the wait list never going to get off of it now, but the people that we already serve may no longer get our care is really heartbreaking.”
This is just the latest example of how state budget cuts affect the lives of Kentuckians. The new two-year state budget cut the base budgets for most state agencies by 4% in 2027 and another 3% in 2028. That’s left them with less money to provide the same, or in some cases increased services. As a result, agencies are being forced to cut essential programs that help Kentuckians stay healthy.
Source: Facebook/Kentucky Center for Economic Policy; https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DjNaSvqAM/