This letter was published in the Portland Press Herald.
As a retired financial advisor and taxpayer in southern Maine, I am writing in support of Lead Maine’s two petitions to require the Department of Health and Human Services to enact tighter rules on MaineCare providers. This is not to change who qualifies, but how the state oversees its responsibility to its taxpaying citizens. Maine taxes currently finance $1.4 billion in MaineCare, in addition to the billions spent by the federal government.
Frequent audits are expected in industries entrusted with other people’s money, as mine was. With a fourfold MaineCare spending increase over the past four years — and reports of home healthcare claims that can be as high as $33,000 per month — it is reasonable to verify the prudent use of money transferred from a taxpayer to its government.
Here’s how this can be done:
- By honoring already existing regulations.
- Requiring random on-site inspections, which are already required on paper but are not currently implemented.
- Pausing improper payments and place them in escrow, earning interest until the case is resolved.
MaineCare’s integrity is important to all vulnerable beneficiaries. It is time to reform it so it will be there for years to come.
Ruth Matt
Portland