A recent article in the Sun Journal indicated one of the reasons MaineCare was not expanded was to enable the Department of Health and Human Services to fund services for our truly neediest population.

Really?

Is that why earlier this year the Medicare Savings Program’s income qualifying guideline was cut by 10 percent?

This program helps our lower income seniors and people with disabilities pay for Medicare premiums, co-pays and deductibles,
and also deems them eligible for the Social Security Part D and Drugs for the Elderly programs.

Then, folks who had MSP were told the DEL benefit for medications would no longer apply to them.

Now, as of January 2014, assets which haven’t been counted since 2007 are being re-introduced when applying for MSP. Additionally, the Circuit Breaker and the tax and rent rebate programs have been eliminated. The rebate program gave our seniors up to $1,600 in the fall, which certainly helped defray heating cost.

This was not a good year for seniors and folks with disabilities. All these cuts will have a significant impact on our neediest.

The sad part is, these cuts actually save the state very little relative to the benefits they provide as primarily federally funded programs.

The latest staffing cuts at DHHS discourage consumers from meeting with counselors. Clients are told to use the kiosk, go online or wait 2-to-3 hours for an appointment.

Clearly these “cuts” are not supporting our neediest. Time for change in 2014.

Roland Bussiere, New Gloucester