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I think it’s too soon to be applauding Sen. Susan Collins, as the chair of the Jackman Select Board recently did in a recent letter to the editor, for the Rural Health Transformation Program. The program’s dollars are meant to make up for the $155 billion over 10 years that states will lose because of the cuts to Medicaid (MaineCare) included in the “big ugly bill” passed last year. It’s been labeled the “largest … rollback in healthcare coverage in history.”
Medicaid cuts included in last year’s bill could result in 12 million people losing health insurance over the next decade, not because they don’t qualify, but because they’re unable to adhere to the onerous reporting requirements deliberately included in the law.
While the challenges of rural healthcare are complex, the goals of the Rural Health Transformation Program are broad and vague. States must apply with detailed transformative plans. If Dr. Mehmet Oz, the director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid doesn’t approve of what a state proposes, he can withhold funds. Of the $50 billion allotted, $25 billion will be distributed equally among all states with an approved application, the remaining $25 billion will be distributed to some states based on a subset of factors.
In Maine, as in most rural areas, healthcare employers are often the largest employer in the area, serving as the town’s “economic engine.” As Alan Morgan, CEO of the National Rural Health Association, states, “this is a rural community issue,” not just a healthcare issue.
Time will tell whether applauding Collins and the Rural Health Transformation Program is justified.
Mary Ann Larson
Bangor