Governor LePage continues to mount a campaign of anecdotes, misinformation and intimidation to promote his proposed $221 million in cuts to MaineCare. On 1/25, MECEP and our partners in the Engage Maine coalition unveiled our alternative calling for more efficient health care delivery and a fairer tax structure to shrink the budget shortfall.
Our announcement at a State House press conference drew coverage from the Bangor Daily News (BDN), MPBN, WABI-TV and WCSH-TV/WLBZ-TV. And on 1/25, a Maine Sunday Telegram editorial declared that our proposal “deserves serious consideration.”
In fact, a review of the Maine media over the past week reveals a firestorm of criticism and opposition to the Administration’s plan and growing support for a more sensible alternative.
Maine Equal Justice Partners’ Sara Gagné-Holmes thoroughly discredited the repeated claims by the Governor and his allies by demonstrating in a 1/25 BDN op ed that the “childless adults” who would lose coverage “tend to be sicker, and often have serious medical conditions that limit their activities and ability to function without care.”
Much of the coverage has focused on concerns raised by local elected officials, physicians, hospitals, businesses and advocates for seniors, children and disabled people, including:
“Portland mayor decries proposed DHHS cuts” BDN, 1/31
“Portland Officials Balk at Proposed MaineCare Cuts” MPBN, 1/30
“Portland joins those opposing proposed Medicaid cuts” WCSH-TV/WLBZ-TV, 1/30
“Portland civic leaders oppose the governor’s plan to cut DHHS” WGME-TV, 1/30
“Group Proposes Alternative to MaineCare Cuts” WABI-TV, 1/30
“Market reforms will not result in health care for all in Maine” Portland Press Herald (PPH) op ed by Dr. Julie Pease, 1/30
“LePage health care proposalis shortsighted and costly” (Augusta) Kennebec Journal op ed by Dr. Laurel Coleman, 1/30
“Cuts to MaineCare hurt the entire community” (Lewiston) Sun Journal op ed by Laird Covey, President of Central Maine Medical Center and Lee Myles, President of St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, 1/29
“Waterville City Officials Criticize Proposed MaineCare Cuts” WABI-TV, 1/26
“State cuts would hit Portland extra hard” PPH, 1/27
“Preventing prevention” (Brunswick) Times Record editorial, 1/26
“How DHHS cuts could affect seniors” (Biddeford) Journal Tribune, 1/26
Our partners at the Maine People’s Alliance have created a special website where you can view video clips from the press conference and add your name to the more than 2,350 who have already registered their support for our responsible solutions toward balancing Maine’s budget!
