Gov. Paul LePage is an avowed opponent of Medicaid expansion. But does he really understand the impact of his decision?
We have our doubts after the governor’s Monday appearance on Maine Public Broadcasting Network’s “Maine Calling.” During the hourlong call-in show, the governor demonstrated embarrassingly little understanding of Maine’s health coverage landscape.
Apparently, after signing a state budget early in his tenure as governor to cut back on Medicaid coverage for low-income adults without children, then nixing expansion bills that would restore coverage to that exact population, the governor still thinks Medicaid coverage is an option for childless adults, whose income is 138 percent of the federal poverty level — about $21,300 for a two-person household — or lower.
The governor betrayed his lack of understanding after “Maine Calling” host Jennifer Rooks asked him about health coverage for low-income people caught in Maine’s coverage gap — those who don’t qualify for Medicaid but have incomes too low to qualify for subsidized health insurance through the Affordable Care Act’s online marketplace.
“The state of Maine right now is at 200 percent [of the federal poverty level], which is above what Obamacare says at 138,” LePage
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