Missouri Republicans Propose Budget That Takes Away Aid to the Blind

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/03/27/missouri-republicans-propose-budget-that-robs-the-blind-of-aid/

March 27, 2012
By Stephen D. Foster Jr.

Republicans have moved to strip funding of women’s health services, services that help the poor, services that aid minorities, and services that help children. But that’s apparently not enough for Republicans.

In Missouri, House Republicans are proposing a $24 billion dollar budget, which is a lot of money. But the GOP has spotted one group of people that they haven’t yet bullied: blind people.

According to the Kansas City Star,

“The Supplemental Aid to the Blind program pays for medical care for about 2,800 people who earn more than $9,495 a year — and therefore don’t qualify for Medicaid — but also receive monthly payments from the state’s blind pension fund. They cannot have more than $20,000 in assets and cannot have sighted spouses who work. But in the $24 billion budget passed Thursday by the Missouri House, the $28 million health care program for the blind was eliminated. The money instead was used to avoid another year of cuts to higher education.”

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