Utahns add input, comments on health-program funding

Facing three-plus hours of testimony and requests for funding for dozens of public health programs, a legislative committee got off to an unusual — though not unwelcome — start Wednesday afternoon.

"Thank you for your funding, thank you for taking the time to hear our pleas and, more importantly, thank you for your wisdom," Stuart Merrill, president of Campaign 2 End AIDS Utah, said in opening public testimony to the committee.

Merrill's group is not asking for any money from the state Legislature this year. Lawmakers in 2006 allocated emergency funds for medication for Utahns living with HIV and AIDS. With the recent passage of the federal Ryan White Care Act, co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, 100 percent of HIV/AIDS funding will now come from the federal government.

Lawmakers' financial intervention last year, Merrill said, helped bridge the gap and saved lives.

"God bless you all, and thank you very much," he said.

Following Merrill, however, were dozens of others — citizens, advocates, health care professionals and even a few lawmakers — asking members of the Health and Human Services Subappropriations Committee to make specific programs a priority when making budget recommendations this year.

Topping the list of requests were increased funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program, Baby Watch/Early Intervention, the Utah Birth Defect Network, funding for adult dental and vision services for Medicaid beneficiaries and increased reimbursement rates for dentists and physicians who see Medicaid patients.

Ryan Bott addressed lawmakers about the need to fund the state's Birth Defect Network, for which Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has recommended a $360,000 allocation in ongoing state funds. One in 33 babies — four a day — born in Utah are affected by a major structural birth defect, according to the March of Dimes. The state leads the nation in babies born with cleft lip or palate.

"If you are a member of this exclusive club, you may not see your child as different," said Bott, whose son was born with a cleft lip. "But if you are not a member, other children and adults will treat your child very differently because they might look, talk or walk differently.

"We need to educate everyone in our state about birth defects," he said. "Birth defects can and will happen to anyone. No one is immune to them."

Huntsman's proposed budget also includes $2.28 million for the state's Baby Watch/Early Intervention program, which received strong support Wednesday.