Uninsured vets a real issue
To the editor:
As co-chair of the Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee, I was taken aback by Ricky Castonguay’s reaction letter to Rep. Robert Saucier’s health care op-ed.
Rep. Saucier serves on my committee and has proven himself a valuable asset to his fellow veterans. He rightly drew attention to the 3,000 Maine veterans who would benefit if Maine expanded health care under the Affordable Care Act.
Rep. Saucier, a veteran himself, was also correct to point out that many veterans do not qualify for comprehensive health care through the Veterans Administration. Our committee hears the concerns of veterans. We know this is a real issue.
The 3,000 veterans are among the 70,000 Mainers who would have the security of health care coverage if Maine accepted federal health care dollars. Many of these uninsured veterans are young men and women, like those who served in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and are struggling in low-income jobs that don’t offer health care.
Mr. Castonguay, meanwhile, seems confused about how health care expansion would work. The ACA anticipated that states would expand their Medicaid programs to cover those making up to about $15,800 a year. Because Maine didn’t expand, we have a coverage gap.
Expansion would benefit hardworking Mainers who aren’t able to get health insurance through their jobs. They work in areas like fishing, construction and retail. They wait on us in restaurants, clean up after customers in motels and take care of our elderly but lack the security of having a family doctor. They just cannot afford the deductibles and co-pays for insurance on the health care exchange, especially when they aren’t getting subsidies – a consequence of not expanding health care.
Other Mainers who make even less money than these folks, about $11,000, aren’t eligible to buy insurance on the exchange at all under the federal law. Despite arguments to the contrary, there is no way for Maine to expand partially. It’s all or nothing.
Mr. Castonguay also makes a serious error about the economic impact of expansion. He repeats misinformation from the controversial and deeply flawed Alexander Report from a political ally of the governor. The governor paid $1 million in a no-bid contract for a report that relied on inaccurate data and failed to take into consideration the economic activity and savings offsets the state would see.
The nonpartisan Kaiser Foundation and the conservative Heritage Foundation agree that Maine would save $690 million over the next 10 years if it accepts the federal offer. But Mr. Castonguay disregards this information in favor of touting a discredited study.
It’s time to see through the smoke and mirrors and accept the federal government’s offer so 70,000 Mainers can have the security of health care coverage, particularly the 3,000 Maine veterans who have more than earned it through their service.
Rep. Louis Luchini
(D-Ellsworth)
