Democratic candidate for governor Rep. Michael Michaud attacked his Republican opponent on Monday over problems with Maine’s taxpayer-funded ride program for Medicaid beneficiaries.
“Mainers deserve more than a government driven by dysfunction where disabled Mainers are being left stranded, waiting for a ride,” Michaud said in a prepared statement.
[RELATED: Michaud campaign hires mudslinging specialist…]
Michaud said the state should cancel its contract and get its money back, though the Congressman did not propose an alternative system for providing Medicaid recipients with transportation.
Problems with Maine’s Medicaid ride system arose in August following the LePage administration’s decision to switch to a brokered model. After the switch, confusion among the three ride providers resulted in numerous missed rides and missed doctors’ appointments.
The Maine Republican Party shot back at Michaud, claiming that his attack on LePage was merely a distraction from the dismal failure of the Affordable Care Act, which Michaud ardently supports.
[RELATED: Michaud, Pingree vote against bill to let people keep their insurance plans…]
As reported by The Maine Wire on Friday, Michaud was not among the 39 Democratic Members of Congress who voted in favor of a bill to allow people to keep health insurance plans that have been cancelled due to Obamacare. The bill could potentially help more than ten thousand Mainers who have had their insurance plans jeopardized.
“Just days after voting to deny thousands of Mainers the option to keep their existing health insurance plans, Michaud is picking a fight over a state program,” said Maine GOP Executive Director Jason Savage. “Clearly, this is the move of a calculating politician concerned only about damaging his political opponent, not a leader interested in working to help the people of Maine.”
“Mike Michaud is doing nothing more than wagging the dog to distract from his own bad votes against Maine people,” said Savage. “The people of Maine are much smarter than he is giving them credit for.”
Michaud has hired Knoxville, Tenn.-based Grindstone Research and its fiery Vice President Carol Andrews to craft negative attacks for the 2014 election.
Steve Robinson
Maine Wire Reporter
SERobinson@themainewire.com
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