Affordable care
To the editor:
It is essential that everyone have access to affordable health care and this should include Americans across the nation who have lost their jobs and are currently unable to afford health insurance. Extending affordable health coverage will help Mainers aged 50 to 64 who find themselves in this very situation and who don’t currently qualify for Medicaid health coverage.
The Affordable Care Act expands health coverage options for all Americans. This is just one critical element of the law that will give people without insurance access to preventive and primary care. It would include access to important medical screenings that can save lives and reduce the need for expensive emergency room visits. Over time, extending affordable health coverage will keep costs down across the entire health care system.
States will have access to federal funds that will enable residents to get the coverage they need. The federal government will pay the entire cost of covering newly eligible individuals for three years beginning in 2014, and then the federal government’s match rate gradually drops beginning in 2017, decreasing to 90 percent in 2020 and thereafter. This is a great deal for states. We need Maine to follow other states like Florida, Ohio, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and many others who are taking advantage of this extraordinary opportunity.
Gail Maynard
Woodland
