Democratic state lawmakers are speaking out against proposed federal cuts to Medicaid- known in the state as MaineCare.
A group called Protect Our Care said that the proposed cuts could deny health care access to more than 325,000 Mainers, including nearly half of Maine children that are on Medicaid.
State Rep. Anne Graham, a retired pediatric nurse practitioner, called the cuts morally indefensible.
"These families need MaineCare," she said. "This would not only harm children's health, but potentially devastate families' finances, putting them in debt over not having health care."
Graham said that cuts to Medicaid could in turn hurt Maine hospitals, many of which are already struggling financially.
Lawmakers are also sounding alarms about proposed work requirements for Medicaid, which they say would be extremely detrimental to Mainers who rely on the program.
State Rep. Drew Gattine, chair of the house appropriations committee, said most people who receive Medicaid are already working and for many people, losing their healthcare will make it more difficult to work.
"So this is an effort by the federal government to implement red tape so that Mainers can't access health care that they're eligible for and currently entitled to, and to reallocate those dollars into programs that will not benefit them, but to reallocate them for tax cuts for rich people," he said.
Gattine said the administrative costs of complying with work requirements would cost more than $30 million in the next two years, and $18 million annually after that — far more than the potential cost savings for Medicaid.
