Shawn Moody’s Healthcare Plan: Show Up To The Emergency Room
Westbrook, MAINE – As if Shawn Moody’s positions on health care weren’t already bad enough, we now know he believes that emergency room treatment and charity care means everyone in Maine is covered. It’s a position that shows a troubling lack of understanding about the way our healthcare system works, what drives up costs, and the challenges that working Maine families face.
“Shawn Moody’s belief that emergency room treatment is equal to health care coverage is just the latest sign that he lacks a basic understanding of our health care system and the struggles that Mainers face every day. “said Phil Bartlett, Chairman of the Maine Democratic Party. “The treatment you receive at an emergency room is no substitute for the care you receive from your primary care doctor, or the kind of care your kids receive from their pediatrician.
“Mainers need more access to health care, not less,“ Bartlett continued. “But Shawn Moody has spent the better part of the last year opposing and vowing to repeal Medicaid Expansion—a policy that that would give more Mainers access to health care, reduce reliance on emergency rooms, and ultimately reduce health care costs for everyone. Even people that hold private insurance plans and aren’t enrolled in MaineCare would see their costs go down.”
Federal and state laws require hospitals to provide certain types of care for free or at a lower cost to those who cannot afford to pay for medical treatment. For the bills that go unpaid, hospitals charge other patients more and get help with unpaid bills from taxpayers.
Moody has repeatedly said that he is opposed to the Affordable Care Act and he has continued to hold Paul LePage’s hardline on Medicaid expansion despite it being the law of the land. Moody has also previously said that he would fight to repeal Medicaid expansion as governor and that “we can’t let [expansion] happen.”
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