Democrats: Maine Medicaid head wrongly fired (by Gov. LePage - R: Teabagger)

[jpak]

http://www.pressherald.com/news/democrats-medicaid-head-wrongly-fired_2011-01-29.html

AUGUSTA — Some Democrats are upset with the LePage administration's decision to fire the state's Medicaid director, saying it sends a message to other senior staffers not to distribute facts that challenge Republican ideology.

Anthony Marple, 63, who oversaw Maine's $2.6 billion-a-year Medicaid program for four years, was fired on Jan. 13, one day after he appeared before the Legislature's powerful Appropriations Committee.

A Democratic committee member, Rep. David Webster of Freeport, said Marple gave a presentation showing that the amount of money Maine has spent on Medicaid from its general fund has been stable or declined each year since 2006, even as enrollment has grown because of the recession.

Webster said the presentation may have surprised some of the committee's newly elected Republican members because it didn't line up with their campaign rhetoric.

<snip>

Rep. Michael Carey, D-Lewiston, who serves on the Legislature's Regulatory Reform Committee, said lawmakers depend on facts to make good decisions. He said Marple's presentation didn't fit into some Republicans' campaign stories of MaineCare spending being overly generous and rising.

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:thumbsdown:

[Maine_Nurse]

1. Kind of misleading...

Yeah, Maine's spending has stayed somewhat flat on the issue. However it is due to the fact that services have been cut as emergency measures nearly every year for a very very long time now. Non-cats have not been enrolled in longer than I can remember, among other things. Not to mention that most hospitals are still waiting for payments for services to be made from 3,4, or even 5 years ago. Even small <25 bed Critical Access Hospitals are left waiting on millions of dollars of payments owed to them. Most have had to take bank loans to cover the income shortages.

[jpak]

2. LePage and the republics campaigned on the lie that "Augusta is out of control"

Baldacci cut nearly a billion dollars from the budget over the last few years and funding for many programs were curtailed.

LePage and the republics concocted these lies and believed them.

When they were shown the real numbers - oops!

Their solution?

Fire the messenger

yup

[Maine_Nurse]

4. But the numbers themselves weren't "real".

What was spent vs what was owed are two drastically different things.

[jpak]

5. The numbers were real - MaineCare spending did not increase, it declined

The republics were wrong.

yup

[Maine_Nurse]

6. Yes, spending didn't go up, yet services and payements were cut

It's pretty easy to keep flat spending when you go years without paying the hospitals that have already provided the services. And when you cut out entire classes of covered individuals and the services which they can receive.

[jpak]

7. That is what happens to state budgets in a recession, things are tough all over:

ask a Maine teacher

or a U Maine professor

or a Game Warden

or Forest Ranger

or anyone in any state agency that recieved curtailment orders over he last few years.

The bottom line is that republics conjured up a lie about state spending and they can't handle realty.

Speak up

Tell the truth

Get fired

yup

[Maine_Nurse]

8. Uhhh, state-employed nurse here...

Within the realm of health care (MaineCare is a very large percentage of that here), I kind of have a clue. In speaking solely about the "no increase in MaineCare spending" issue, trust me when I tell you that the numbers from previously are not accurate because of program cuts and stiffing both facilities for years on end. I do a lot of case-management and see it every day. I'm not saying that the previous governor didn't do what he had to do, but that the article's portrayal of "spending decreased" is complete crap. If I go buy 5 cars on credit and make the payments one year, then stop paying for them the next, my spending would decrease too.

I'm no fan of LMLA (Loud-mouthed Lard Ass), but his steps to repay at least some of the MaineCare debt owed to Maine hospitals and practitioners is the first good thing we've seen in a long time and has already helped prevent more layoffs and even gotten a few hospitals to start slowly hiring to fill vacancies that have sat there for a while now.

[jpak]

9. LePage will have to cut elsewhere to make up for this

He has already told Maine teachers that "they will have to do more with less".

I guess it depends on who's ox is being gored whether this is good or bad.

[WhiteTara]

3. kill the messenger. n/t