letter to the editor

Vote no on Medicaid expansion

Thu, 09/14/2017 - 7:00am

Dear Editor:

Maine can’t afford to expand Medicaid for healthy adults without children.

We need to look no further than President Obama’s own Department of Health and Human Services 2016 Actuarial Report to Congress on Medicaid’s financial outlook. “A growing share of budget expenditures on the Medicaid program could displace spending on other important programs, or additional taxes or other revenue sources could be required to fund Medicaid.”
Proponents for expansion will not tell you that the funding formula for this Medicaid expansion favors healthy adults over our most vulnerable citizens—children, the elderly, and the disabled. They will not tell you about the spectacular cost overruns that have occurred in states that expanded Medicaid coverage as we are being asked to approve. Proponents will not tell you about the cruel choices these states are facing in order to balance their budgets. They will not tell you about the Mainers with disabilities on Medicaid waiting lists that will not be served by this expansion. And, they certainly won’t tell you that when the cost overruns occur (and they will) that the program will favor the able bodied over the disadvantaged and truly needy.

The best thing for healthy adults in Maine are policies that encourage growth opportunities and create jobs for them. Vote “No” in November on the Medicaid ballot question.

Hubert Padgett

Newcastle