GLSS exec:Cuts will hurt seniors

LYNN – A top senior care executive warned Friday that emergency spending cuts in senior prescription benefits could force older Lynn residents and others to choose between medicine, food or heat.The Prescription Advantage program is on a long list of state programs trimmed by Gov. Deval Pat-rick this week in a bid to make up for a state revenue shortfall with spending cuts.The $57 million budget allocation was cut $6.9 million.?This will seriously affect the ability of seniors to get drugs,” said Greater Lynn Senior Services Executive Dir-ector Ronald Airey.Airey said the cut is likely to lengthen waiting lists for seniors seeking reduced price medication. He said the cuts could also lead to co-payment and price increases.?It?s going to be serious, we don?t know how serious.”Patrick is slashing about a billion dollars from the state?s three-month-old $28.2 billion budget. The cuts spurred reaction from state legislators including Revere state Rep. Robert DeLeo, the top budget maker in the Massachusetts House.?While Massachusetts has made some key investments in our economy and targeted investments in new and proven industries, the need to bring the budget in line with available revenues is clear,” DeLeo said in a statement. “Governor Patrick has presented his plan to make necessary budget cuts and we will be analyzing them in the days ahead. I look forward to working with the Governor and legislative leaders in our shared effort to lead the Commonwealth out of these tough times and into fiscal recovery.”Former U.S. Rep. Peter Torkildsen, currently chairman of the state Republican Party, credited Patrick for making the cuts, but added, “I don?t think he?s realizing the magnitude of the problem.”Torkildsen and Lynnfield/Wakefield legislator Richard Tisei criticized the governor for hiking state spending.?These expansions were unsustainable when they happened, and are even more so now that we are in the midst of a worsening economy,” Tisei said in a statement.Tisei added that the state must “continue to hold the line on spending, identify ways to reduce costs by streamlining programs and promoting efficiencies, and implement reforms that are needed to preserve essential services.”