Supplemental Budget Cuts Hurt Maine Seniors and Disabled Adults
The governor's supplemental budget contains proposed cuts that will disproportionally affect low-income Maine seniors. One of the worst proposals is elimination of the Drugs for Elderly and severe cuts to Maine’s Medicare Savings Program. You can do something about these proposed cuts!
The Appropriations Committee has held public hearings and is currently working on the governor’s supplemental budget. The Committee will make a decision on proposed cuts by the end of January. Now is the time to call members of the Appropriations Committee and tell them these cuts are wrong-headed!
Here’s what the governor’s supplemental budget proposes:
Approximately 40,000 elderly and disabled people in Maine will lose all or some of the help they currently receive through the Medicare Savings Program (MSP) to help pay for Medicare premiums, co-payments and deductibles, prescription drug costs, and coverage through the so-called “donut hole”.
Maine cannot afford these cuts! Maine’s low income seniors are already struggling to pay for food, heat, housing and health care. If these cuts go into effect, some seniors will stop taking their medication as prescribed and will have serious health consequences – costing us all more in the end. These programs provide a critical health safety net for Maine’s most vulnerable seniors. These cuts are pennywise and pound foolish and should be rejected!
Of the 40,000 people:
- 12,500 people (with incomes between 150-185% FPL) will lose all assistance, with a personal impact as high as $3,755 annually.
- 6,500 people (with incomes between 135-150% FPL) will lose most assistance, with a personal impact as high as $3,755 annually plus all drug co-pays.
- 21,000 people (with incomes between 100-135% FPL) will lose some assistance, with a personal impact as high as $5,051 annually plus all inpatient, outpatient and drug co-pays.
135% of FPL = about $14,700; 150% = about $16,300; 185% = about $20,100.
We need your help now!
Contact your own Senators and Representatives and ask them to vote against these cuts! You can find contact for Appropriations Committee members here.
Please don’t stand by while your neighbor is at risk of losing critically important benefits. Get involved now!