DEMOCRATIC LEADERS SAY CLOCK IS TICKING ON HEALTH CARE EXPANSION BILL
LePage holds up 4,500 jobs, health care for nearly 70,000
AUGUSTA—Top Democratic leaders on Monday said new reports of job loss in Maine underscore the need for Governor Paul LePage to sign a bill to accept federal health care dollars to cover tens of thousands of Mainers. The measure is expected to save and create 4,500 jobs, according to analysis by the Maine Center for Economic Policy.
Maine is one of three states in the country to lose jobs from April 2012-2013, according to a report on Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Friday by the Pew Research Center.
“I urge the Governor to evaluate this offer as he would in the world of business. As a business person, if he had an opportunity to create thousands of jobs and help people—at no cost—he would not turn that down,” said Senate President Justin Alfond of Portland. “I urge the Governor to put aside ideology, do what is right, and look at the facts. In one stroke of the pen, he can put people back to work, reduce health care costs and make our state a healthier place.”
Last Thursday lawmakers sent, LD 1066, “An Act To Increase Access to Health Coverage and Qualify Maine for Federal Funding,” to LePage for his signature. The measure directs the state of Maine to accept federal funding to expand health care for nearly 70,000 Maine people.
Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government has agreed to pay an unprecedented 100 percent of the cost for covering all newly eligible people for the first three years, and then gradually lowers payment to no less than 90 percent of the cost by 2020. The measure as passed would sunset after three years onDecember 31, 2016 prior to the reduction in federal dollars.
“Right now, Governor LePage is standing in the way of health care and jobs for thousands of Maine people,” said House Speaker Mark Eves of North Berwick. “With a stroke of a pen, he can create jobs and help change the lives of 70,000 Mainers who need health care. We urge him to sign it. The clock is ticking.”
States with Republican Governors across the country have accepted federal dollars to expand health care coverage.
Maine has a long history of accepting federal funds to pay for health care, education, roads and bridges, rural electrification, internet access, and workforce development. Federal funds accounted for 39 percent of the state’s operating revenue in 2012, more than the total funding generated from state sales and income taxes combined, according to the Legislature’s nonpartisan Office of Fiscal and Program Review.
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