Much of these hospital costs would be avoided if parents had access to primary care. This legislation would help Maine businesses by reducing employee turnover and maintaining a healthier workforce. Turnover is expensive for employers, increasing both training and administrative costs. One study in 1996 found that 3 out of every 4 uninsured adults reported poor health compared to only 1 out of 4 insured adults. Helps Children Providing health care to parents significantly increases access to care for their children.
Research shows that children are more likely to use physicians' services if their mothers do.
The State of Rhode Island had similar results. Both LD 1477 and LD 2552 have built-in cost controls to ensure that this program stays within budget. The current deficit in the Medicaid Program reflects the difficulty in budgeting in a volatile health care market-not an inherent problem in the Medicaid Program itself. The Medicaid Program has performed much better than private health insurers in managing costs in these difficult times. This is particularly remarkable considering that the Medicaid Program serves a high proportion of people with disabilities in the State as well as the low-income elderly.