65,000 MaineCare recipients to lose health coverage under LePage plan

[MaineDem]

AUGUSTA, Maine — More than 65,000 low-income residents will lose health coverage through the state’s MaineCare program under a sweeping overhaul proposed Tuesday by the LePage administration.

Seeking to address a $120 million shortfall in the Department of Health and Human Services budget in the 2012 fiscal year, the governor took aim at MaineCare, the state’s version of the federal Medicaid program. His proposal called for tightening eligibility requirements, eliminating services and repealing coverage entirely for thousands of MaineCare recipients to bring Maine’s program closer to national averages.

“We have 361,000 people on Medicaid in the state of Maine,” LePage said at a State House press conference. “That is pushing 30 percent of our population. The national average is running at 20 percent.”

...

Facing a loss of state coverage are childless adults, 19- and 20-year-olds and some parents. Dental, occupational and physical therapy, adult family care and other services are also at risk, as well as access to brand-name prescription drugs.

http://bangordailynews.com/2011/12/06/health/65000-mainecare-recipients-to-lose-health-coverage-under-lepage-plan/

Pretty drastic.

[luckyleftyme2]

1. other budget over hauls

what recovery? kick the can again? we all know the best answer;just our elected officials seem to fail to adjust the budget!
THE FIRST ADJUSTMENT WAS BALDACCI'S WHICH i COPIED BELOW:

" AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. John Baldacci ordered Maine state departments Friday to curtail spending by $63 million to make sure the budget is balanced.

Baldacci issued the order for the fiscal year ending in mid-2010 as preliminary estimates showed a shortfall in the two-year $5.8 billion budget approaching $400 million, or nearly 7 percent.

The cuts include $38 million from state funds that support local schools and more than $11 million from the Department of Health and Human Services, according to documents available online. Of the cuts to DHHS, $6.8 million will have no impact on programs. But there are cuts to room and board rates for those with developmental disabilities, adult day services for the elderly, and a reduction in funding for homeless shelters.The governor’s order stands until the Legislature returns in January for its 2010 session and modifies the current two-year state budget. Lawmakers passed a budget this year that slashed spending by $500 million, giving Maine the first budget in three decades that was smaller than the previous one.

Similar patterns appeared in more than 30 states, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers.

“It’s clear now that we will have to do even more,” Baldacci said in a prepared statement. States continue to struggle even as the national recession eases, he said."

the real reason we are having problems in Maine and the rest of the country is the politicians refuse to respond to the voters wishes! Instead
they yield to business which has no heart,soul or loyalty!
In the mid-sixties we got into a mess and the solution was to increase wages,that business paid for health insurance programs for the workers and that manufacturing cleaned up its environmental impact.
It worked fine until we drained a growing prosperity with the increase cost of the Vietnam war.
Then we found away to ruin the economy by skirting workman comp. laws;
how many mainers became subs so the money maker forced the carpenter to be self employed or starve?
how many businesses moved overseas or started off shore accounts?
Now we have two wars that has sunk the federal economy,most of our manufacturing companies have left or went under; those that have stayed have cut or passed their health care costs to the worker! the workers pay has been stagnant to the point they can't survive! which means less money to spend which means less for business! duh now its time to reverse the equation! IF YOU DON'T WE ALL LOSE-AND THOSE FOREIGN INVESTORS DON'T CARE BECAUSE THEY ARE ALREADY INVESTING IN CHINA AND INDIA!
WAKE UP PAY YOUR EMPLOYEE!

[Gormy Cuss]

2. He's not saving a damn cent, since the Feds contribute $1.70 for each dollar of state funding.

It's also a curious metric to compare participation rates with a national average unless the state's rate of low income, disabled, or elderly populations is also at the national average.