Now that the federal government has, literally, told Gov. LePage that it has to follow the law — and therefore can’t cover the full costs of Medicaid expansion for ten years — is anyone surprised?
The claim that the governor was somehow going to get a special deal was always absurd. There was no way every state but Maine would have three years of full costs covered, as set out in the law, but somehow Maine would have ten.
Having Republican party staff, legislators and allies repeatedly say that a ten year deal was possible shows they have message discipline, and that’s something. Perhaps a strategist, an expert in crafting political language, said it would make them look concerned with covering the uninsured.
But it was never serious as a matter of public policy, with actually covering low-income working Mainers who lack insurance.