AUGUSTA – In a 5-7 party line vote, the Legislature’s Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee voted Monday to recommend passage of a Medicaid expansion bill, but the ‘nay’ vote of a key Republican lawmaker may foreshadow a momentum shift in the year’s most high-profile policy debate.
“It’s like we learned nothing from the last time we expanded Medicaid in 2002. Enrollment skyrocketed beyond projections, resulting in more than $700 million in hospital debt,” said Sen. Jim Hamper (R-Oxford), a member of the HHS Committee. “We just paid that debt off and now we want to go down that same road again,” said Hamper.
The present version of Medicaid expansion, L.D. 1487, was introduced by two Republican senators as a compromise measure. It includes the Democrat-sponsored Medicaid expansion proposal plus managed care legislation and a dubious “sunset” clause. The managed care legislation would cause the Department of Health and Human Services to outsource management of Medicaid enrollees to private companies, while the sunset clause would, theoretically, allow Maine to reduce eligibility for the welfare program in three years.
The committee vote allows Medicaid expansion legislation to move forward in the Legislature, but it is surely a hollow victory for Medicaid expansion’s proponents. Although Assistant Senate Minority Leader Roger Katz (R-Kennebec) and Sen. Tom Saviello (R-Franklin)’s compromise proposal was expected to lure more Republican votes, every Republican on the HHS Committee voted against the bill, including Rep. Carol A. McElwee (R-Caribou), who supported expansion last year.
McElwee’s position change is a devastating blow to pro-expansion Democrats and advocacy groups.
“I applaud Rep. McElwee’s decision and I thank her for being open-minded throughout the process in the face of new information and changing circumstances,” said Assistant House Minority Leader Alex Willette (R-Mapelton).
The debate over Medicaid expansion has become a hotly partisan issue since last year’s deliberations, with both sides debating fiercely about the proposal’s cost. Today’s committee meeting was no exception.
Last week, the Office of Fiscal and Program Review (OFPR) published an analysis purporting to the show the cost of Katz’s Medicaid expansion proposal. Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew called OFPR’s cost estimate “nonsense” and blasted the policy analyst who crafted it for ignoring the cost figures provided by the department.
“I am concerned by the departure from the well-established process of using information submitted by the program area to inform decision-making,” Mayhew said in a press release. “The analyst clearly chose to ignore the facts and presented phantom savings that cannot be substantiated… One must question the motivation of doing so and the integrity of the process.”
Rep. Deb Sanderson (R-Chelsea), the Republican lead on the HHS Committee, asked the Democratic co-chairs of the committee today if Christopher Nolan, the OFPR staffer who crafted the controversial fiscal note, could explain his thinking. According to Sanderson, HHS Committee co-chair Rep. Richard Farnsworth (D-Portland) said that decision was up to Ana Hicks, chief of staff to Speaker of the House Mark Eves (D-North Berwick).
Farnsworth’s abdication of authority over his committee was a troubling sign for Sanderson.
“That told me clearly that the committee is taking orders from leadership and not making its own informed decisions,” said Sanderson.
The Katz-Saviello Medicaid expansion proposal could head to the Senate floor for a vote as early as Tuesday.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="8259 http://www.themainewire.com/?p=8259">2 Comments
The Democrats are hell bent on ramming through this expansion, with no plan for, nor a dare for, cost for a very fundamental reason. The reason is not that they truly care for the people of Maine. That’s not their concern. Their concern is power and control. The Democrats seek total control of our lives. They obtain this control by enslaving more and more people to the evil of government dependence, which they use as a tool to expand their voter base. They are using the Cloward and Piven play book to achieve this goal.
Katz and Saviello are just as much a part of the problem with their ‘ go along to get along’ compromise containing a sunset clause that isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. Once a government entitlement program becomes a reality, and they get their hands on our money, it never goes away.
Seen online – report from a parent at the dentist with their child in Maine. Anybody who says welfare isn’t big business is kidding themselves.
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“WOW!!! A recommendation for braces that comes with: “NO WORRIES, THEY WON’T COST YOU A PENNY, YOU’RE ON MAINE CARE, RIGHT?” Um, no, we’re not on Maine Care (fortunately). The conversation then makes a quick turn to, “Oh, I’m sorry, I must have looked at the wrong chart. We do have payment plans available.” Really? Maine Care provides for FREE braces yet it costs us $7000—something seems wrong here. When did braces become a ‘crutch’ to help folks recover from a hardship? Isn’t that what our welfare service programs were intended to be, a helping hand to get back on your feet? This “lifestyle” is corrupt, it’s wrong & it’s time we stand up to it!”
“Okay, I’m done, back to work I go, someone needs braces…”