Radio Address: Medicaid expansion: Here we go again

December 29, 2015

(MP3 Audio)

Medicaid expansion has been disastrous for many states around the nation?just as it was for Maine. Now Augusta politicians are trying to expand Medicaid again because it is an election year.

Hello, this is Governor Paul LePage.

I vetoed Medicaid expansion five times because we knew it would not be free. It would cost Maine taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars over the next decade.

AP reports at least 14 states with Medicaid expansion are being crushed by enrollments that are blowing past original projections. These states will have to pay hundreds of millions of dollars when the federal government?s promise of ?free money? is cut back in 2017.
? In Kentucky, enrollment in 2014 more than doubled what they projected. Cost estimates could skyrocket to more than $360 million.
? In Michigan, cost estimates for Medicaid expansion jumped 50 percent because of exploding enrollment.
? In Ohio, projected costs of expanding Medicaid have more than doubled.
? In California, 2.3 million people enrolled in Medicaid?almost three times what they projected.
? In Washington, enrollment more than doubled.
? In Oregon, enrollments exceeded projections by 73 percent. In 2017, Oregon will lose nearly $2 billion of federal funding for Medicaid.
? In New Mexico, enrollment jumped 44 percent over projections. They may have to take money from other state agencies to fill the budget gap.
? In Arkansas, cost overruns for Medicaid expansion were projected at $45 million in 2014. The state?s Medicaid director resigned, and they had to seek a bailout from the feds.
? Rhode Island expanded Medicaid in a way that was similar to what Democrats wanted for Maine. Enrollments of able-bodied Rhode Islanders immediately doubled, and the state faced a $52 million budget shortfall.

As Yogi Berra said, ?It?s d?j? vu all over again.? Unlike other states, Maine expanded Medicaid in 2002. It resulted in welfare debt of $750 million to Maine?s hospitals, and it squeezed out funding for our elderly, our disabled, our mentally ill and our nursing homes.

Maine?s media has ignored it, but DHHS has done a tremendous job of containing the Medicaid shortfalls that used to blow holes in the budget every year. Medicaid spending is now essentially flat.

But two liberal politicians want to expand Medicaid again, shamelessly tying it to more treatment programs for addicts. We already spend $76 million a year on substance abuse programs, but only $3 million a year chasing drug traffickers from out-of-state gangs.

If these so-called politicians want to increase spending to treat addicts, they should try doing it without deception. They don?t have to expand welfare?they just have to set priorities.

Don?t be fooled by this latest attempt to expand welfare. The results were disastrous for Maine, and it is now devastating states around the country. ObamaCare is crumbling, and promises of ?free money? are drying up.

We have vetoed Medicaid expansion five times, and we will veto it every time electioneering politicians try to bring it up. It was the wrong thing to do then, and it?s the wrong thing to do now.

It?s time to send dishonest and deceptive politicians home for good.