To the editor:
Today, more than ever before, we need access to health care throughout our lives. Some of us were lucky to get it through work, some of us can afford to pay for it, and some of us are old enough to have Medicare and Part D prescription drug coverage. What about those who are not so fortunate?
Maine is currently one of 20 states offering some form of health care coverage to low-income childless adults. The health care needs of this group are higher than that of many other groups covered by MaineCare. This group often has serious medical conditions that affect their activities and ability to function without care.
The proposed budget cuts would wipe away health care for 18,000 low-income childless adults. Almost half of them are over the age of 50. Ironically, this is the very age when significant health problems arise. Significant health problems, left untreated, will force many of these people into hospital emergency rooms, a more expensive option than preventive care.
To wipe out this program entirely can only result in more charity care and more cost shifting to the rest of us. People who are chronically ill and uninsured eventually will access the health care system, but they won’t be able to pay for their care.
I urge our legislators to reject these drastic cuts to a program upon which so many lives depend.
Carol Mower
AARP Ambassador
Orono
