Jared Golden provides ‘road map’ to his health care agenda
Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden on Tuesday laid out what he called his "health care road map."
During last year's tough 2nd Congressional District race, Golden said, "I told Mainers I would work to help make good health care available and affordable for everyone."
"Today, I'm following through with my health care road map, a common-sense plan to lower costs and expand access to care in the short term and move toward a universal health care system in the long term," Golden said in a prepared statement.
The steps he proposed range from tweaks to the Affordable Care Act approved almost a decade ago to universal coverage under a Medicare For All proposal that he endorsed on the campaign trail — a plan the Maine GOP has called a "risky health care scheme that would end Medicare as we know it and create massive tax increases."
Golden also threw his support behind a proposal to make Maine and other states that refused to expand Medicaid eligible for temporary subsidies to assist with the additional financial cost of providing coverage to more people.
"We need to take action right now to help Maine people facing crushing health care costs," Golden said. "That's why my plan focuses on strengthening the Affordable Care Act, safeguarding protections for people with pre-existing conditions, maximizing Medicaid expansion in Maine, and making prescription drugs more affordable."
One of the bills Golden endorsed, which counts Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine's 1st Congressional District as an original backer, would help Maine fund the expansion of Medicaid by providing more federal dollars to ease the transition to a bigger program.
When the federal government initially pushed for states to expand their Medicaid programs to cover low-income residents who earned no more than 138 percent of the federal poverty level, it offered them a lure: For the first three years, federal taxpayers would pick up the entire extra cost.
The subsidy gradually trailed off until the sixth year, when states received 90 percent reimbursement, the normal rate for the Medicaid program.
The deadline to accept that deal passed in 2014, so the sweeteners no longer apply to states such as Maine that joined the expansion program late. Maine expanded its program this year after voters endorsed it in 2017.
Golden's proposal, which a number of other legislators are also advocating, would open the door to the same terms that Maine initially rejected because Gov. Paul LePage firmly opposed the expansion of Medicaid.
It's an idea that's been around for awhile. U.S. Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent, backed a similar bill in 2016 that failed to win congressional support.
READ MORE: Jared Golden provides ‘road map' to his health care agenda