Health Access California has issued a report (PDF) about the impact of Medi-Cal cuts, and as devestating as you would think major cuts to services would be, yup, that’s what happened.

Health care advocates estimate that California’s budget cuts have forced more than 450,000 Californians, including severely disabled people, to either pay for or go without dental care since July.

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Based on that calculation, the group estimated that since July more than 240,000 people who needed prescription coverage for eyeglasses no longer had it, and more than 100,000 didn’t have coverage for exams.

The report estimated that more than 50,000 incontinent people lacked coverage for products to prevent sores and skin infections; 40,000 were not covered to go to a podiatrist and 14,000 lacked coverage to get a hearing aid. (SacBee)

What will it take until we turn this around? Well, you don’t have to look too far in the past. In Maryland, Deamonte Driver, a 12 year old boy, died because he did not get dental care. After spending $250,000 for what should have been an $80 extraction, Deamonte died.

California shouldn’t need to sacrifice a child to understand the costs of our budget policies.