Cuts Proposed in MaineCare

Dear MAIN Members and Supporters, The State is facing another large deficit. Once again, MaineCare cuts are being proposed. This is only the beginning of a series of budget cut proposals that we will see over the next month. However, we want to alert you to proposed cuts in the MaineCare program that will be considered right away. They concern us and we think may concern you too. The Governor's supplemental budget proposes to eliminate several MaineCare services to parents. These are mostly working parents with family incomes within the following limits: You will be affected if: If you have a family of 2, with monthly income between $1,167 and $2,334 If you have a family of 3, with monthly income between $1,467 and $2,934 If you have a family of 4 with monthly income between $1,767 and $3,534 If you have a family of 5 with monthly income between $2,067 and $4,134 ONLY PARENTS (NOT CHILDREN) WILL BE AFFECTED BY THESE SERVICE CUTS. The budget proposal does not include a list of the actual services to be cut. We hope to get that information in the next few days and will contact you again once we know more. However, in the meantime, we hope that you will contact us if you are a parent on MaineCare whose income is within the limits above. That will help us know who will be harmed.Please also tell us if there are particular MaineCare services that are very important to you. Please contact us if you or a family you know are willing to help fight these cuts when the time is right. We expect there will be public hearings on the budget scheduled the first or second week of January. We will need to make sure legislators hear the stories and the voices of people who will be hurt by cuts to services. We realize that not everyone who will be hurt by these cuts can come to the State House in Augusta and talk to legislators. However, please contact us as soon as possible so that together we can determine the most effective way for you, or a parent you know, to help legislators understand the harm that these cuts would cause. Please send an email to Crystal Bond or call Maine Equal Justice at 1-866-626-7059 x 205. Thank you! Crystal Crystal M. Bond Paralegal/Organizer Maine Equal Justice Partners 126 Sewall Street Augusta, Maine 04330 Tel: 1-866-626-7059 x 205 Fax: 207-621-8148 www.mejp.org "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."Martin Luther King, Jr.