Time to audit Medicaid to strengthen program
The article on the front page of the August 21 edition of The Lakeville Journal on “Health advocates across the state brace for fallout from Medicaid cuts” concludes that “any reductions to Medicaid could be devastating to seniors, caregivers, and communities.” In other words, once again, “the sky is falling!”
The author notes that enrollment in Medicaid has increased 10% since the COVID Pandemic. In the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), Medicaid/CHIP cuts come to approximately $1 trillion over 10 years, compared to the current annual spending on these programs of just under $1 trillion per annum. This amounts to a cut of approximately 10%, which takes us back to pre-COVID levels. Surely, scaling back to pre-COVID levels, principally by removing illegal participants and other waste, fraud, and abuse, shouldn’t be “devastating!”
Furthermore, Ms. Aleksinas quotes Natashea Winters, director of programs and learning at the nonprofit Foundation for Community Health, as asserting that “Documenting 80 hours of work monthly can be difficult even for people who are working,” and “Most people [citing precedents in Arkansas, which introduced work requirements in 2018] didn’t lose coverage because they weren’t working. They lost it due to paperwork and reporting problems. A third hadn’t heard about the new rules, and nearly half weren’t sure if they applied to them.”
I’m not sure this is a sympathetic argument, particularly as Winters adds “The new requirement takes effect in December 2026, giving us two years to prepare,” noting further that “The Arkansas experience shows what we can expect, and what our residents, healthcare providers and local officials should plan for now.” With appropriate education, therefore, Connecticut can ensure that what caused most of the cuts in Medicaid in the Arkansas experience can be remediated.
I’m tired of fearmongering arguments based on innuendo and super-heated imaginations. It’s time the Medicaid roles are audited, ineligible participants removed, and able-bodied participants required to contribute back to the society that provides them the safety net they enjoy. Medicaid, as a result, will be strengthened for the American citizens for whom the program was designed — pregnant women, children, people with disabilities, low-income seniors, and other vulnerable low-income families, the official goal of the OBBBA.
Cameron O. Smith
Sharon
GOP Town Committee slams Journal cartoons
It was extremely rewarding to see Peter Steiner’s cartoon about The Wake Robin Mahal in last week’s paper. This is a cartoon that will undoubtedly elicit bipartisan laughter and praise from residents of Lakeville and Salisbury.
Alas, this cartoon stands in stark contrast to the years of cartoons mocking everything Republican: Republican politicians, Republican Supreme Court Justices, Republican voters and even Republican parents who dare to speak out at school board meetings. Week after week, month after month, and year after year these mocking cartoons have graced the pages of our local newspaper.
Salisbury currently has 419 registered Republicans.They cover the entire Republican spectrum: MAGA Republicans, traditional Republicans (think McCain, Romney and Haley) and even a few liberal Republicans (think Rockefeller and the late Senator Brooke).Moreover, 580 Salisbury voters cast their ballot for Donald Trump in the November election.
The Steiner cartoons continually depict Republicans as ignorant, dishonest, immoral and even violent.
The Salisbury Republican Town Committee does not begrudge Mr. Steiner the right to display his strong opinions nor do we begrudge Salisbury Democrats the right to take pleasure in anti-Republican cartoons. What we do object to is The Lakeville Journal — a nonprofit newspaper dedicated to carrying news of our local community and dependent on financial support from that community to stay in business — being a perpetual bulletin board for anti-Republican cartoons. These cartoons are a constant slap in the face to the town’s Republican minority and do nothing to foster a feeling of community in our beautiful town. It is long past time to send them to some other publication.
Tom Morrison, Chair, Salisbury Republican Town Committee
Lakeville
Urging P&Z to reject Wake Robin
At this time, 480 residents have signed a petition opposing the proposed redevelopment of the Wake Robin Inn.
By an overwhelming majority, residents attending P&Z meetings have voiced that the scale and scope of Aradev’s application are excessive, inappropriate and incompatible with our rural residential community.
Despite the volumes of data presented by Aradev’s consultants, residents’ concerns remain clear. This mega resort is still far too intense for the site. Even after several revisions of the original application, Aradev’s proposal only leads to a minor reduction in size. The project if approved will bring lasting nuisances — noise, traffic congestion, water runoff into our lake, and sewage concerns- that threaten Lakeville/Salisbury and the quality of life we value.
Chairman Michael Klemens implied, at the August 26 P&Z zoom meeting, that residents’ concerns about noise are merely “speculation.”But for those of us who live here, the reality is that Lakeville/Salisbury is a quiet residential community — which would be fundamentally altered by an overscaled resort. P& Z has the authority to recognize when a project constitutes a nuisance, and lived experience must matter alongside data.
A project of this scale does not belong in Lakeville/Salisbury.We urge P&Z to deny this application and protect the integrity and nature of our community.
Kathy Plesser MD
Freya Block
Lakeville
