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Dems rip guv's cuts

HARRISBURG - State Democratic senators yesterday angrily challenged Gov. Corbett's top public-welfare official over the administration's moves to cut spending on a wide range of social-safety-net programs despite rising demand and health-care costs.

HARRISBURG

- State Democratic senators yesterday angrily challenged Gov. Corbett's top public-welfare official over the administration's moves to cut spending on a wide range of social-safety-net programs despite rising demand and health-care costs.

Among the Corbett administration's proposals are eliminating cash payments to poor adults, cutting 20 percent from aid for county-run social-service programs, raising fees or copayments for people to use certain services and cutting reimbursements by 4 percent to hospitals and nursing homes that care for the poor.

The proposals come amid what senators say is the disappearance of 89,000 children from the state's Medicaid rolls since August, prompting concerns that the Corbett administration's professed effort to ensure that only the eligible receive benefits is cloaking a campaign to save money by knocking people out of programs.

- Associated Press