Maine residents voted to expand Medicaid Tuesday, signaling support for the Affordable Care Act and dealing a setback to the GOP’s efforts to repeal Obamacare.
One of the main goals of the ACA is to expand Medicaid, adding more low-income patients to the rolls of government insurance. Not only does Maine’s referendum help bolster public support of Obamacare, it grows an already massive entitlement program.
Maine becomes the 31st state to expand Medicaid under Obamacare, and is the first to do so through a voter referendum. The state legislature had attempted to expand medicaid five times, but each bill was vetoed by Republican Gov. Paul LePage.
He called the expansion a “boondoggle” and said “it’s going to kill this state.” LePage has been trying to pay down the state’s Medicaid debt to Maine hospitals since 2011 and released a statement saying the expansion would be a step in the wrong direction:
Credit agencies are predicting that this fiscally irresponsible Medicaid expansion will be ruinous to Maine’s budget. Therefore, my administration will not implement Medicaid expansion until it has been fully funded by the Legislature at the levels DHHS has calculated, and I will not support increasing taxes on Maine families, raiding the rainy day fund or reducing services to our elderly or disabled.
Eleven million Americans have picked up medical coverage in the 31 states that have expanded Medicaid, and an additional 2.5 million would receive coverage if the remaining states followed suit, according to Forbes.
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