Maine Democrats scramble after governor blocks Medicaid expansion

Reuters ^ | June 18, 2013 | By Dave Sherwood

[Oldeconomybuyer]

(Reuters) - Democratic legislators in Maine scrambled on Tuesday to muster the votes needed to override Republican Governor Paul LePage's late-night veto of a bill to expand Medicaid coverage to an additional 60,000 people.

LePage late on Monday blocked a compromise bill that would have increased the number of low-income people eligible for the federal insurance program, an expansion allowed by the U.S. healthcare reform that stands as the signature domestic legislative achievement of President Barack Obama's first term.

In vetoing the Medicaid bill, LePage warned against repeating past mistakes, calling previous expansions of Medicaid - which contributed to the heavy hospital debt - "well-meaning, tugging at the heart strings of people across the political spectrum," but ultimately flawed.

[lucky american]

This is happening in NH also. Millions of dollars available to expand Medicaid . Ads touting that if we don’t take it that 60 thousand people will go without coverage. But what they conviently forget to mention is what happens when that money is gone. Who will keep paying for those 60 thousand people or more?
Idiots. All of them.