The administration’s recently enacted cuts to Medicaid will cause 40,000 Mainers to lose health care by 2026, and another 31,000 to become uninsured by 2027. In addition, the Medicaid dollars that are being withheld today will explode future costs and diminish workforce capacity due to unnecessarily poor health outcomes that could, and should, have been avoided.

And there’s more:
• The Congressional Budget Office predicts Medicare will lose $536 billion because the 1974 Paygo Act automatically sequesters Medicare funds when Medicaid is cut.
• Hospitals and nursing homes are facing closures and cuts to staff, as well as threats to emergency services.
• Graduate medical education programs are at risk, jeopardizing future physician supply.
• Public health programs in maternal health, substance abuse and chronic disease prevention have been slashed.
• States have lost tools to sustain Medicaid budgets, forcing cuts to dental, vision and home care services.

Please ask our representatives to reverse these cuts and ensure that our health care system provides the vital life support Maine people deserve.

Margaret Shannon
Hallowell