To the editor,
I have reached one conclusion after more than 51 years of experience in health care finance and as a retired licensed life and health insurance producer.
MaineCare providers and the government are essential partners in providing critical medical care to society. Each partner needs the other while meeting different goals. But this is not an equal 50-50 partnership as the government carries more influence as they control the purse (money) and the volume (enrollment).
I’ve seen enrollment increase exponentially each year without an increase in funding. The purse has been strained so much that hospital payments have been periodically interrupted for the last two years because MaineCare ran out of money. Why is enrollment increasing and why isn’t more attention being paid to how our taxpayer money is being managed? When my bills go up, I look for what caused the increase. Our government doesn’t seem to do the same. No wonder more than 3,000 citizens have asked for two commonsense state requirements.
The first requirement is for the state government to make an in-person, on-site inspection to ensure the company is qualified to serve MaineCare beneficiaries, and the second is to intelligently and responsibly pause the money when fraud is suspected. This doesn’t mean the money would be stopped forever. Rather, the funds would be set aside until the matter is settled.
If you had a business partner, wouldn’t these be reasonable, commonsense expectations?
Benton Cash
Presque Isle, ME
