To Gov. Chris Sununu, legislators, their constituents and Monitor subscribers: I was first licensed as a registered nurse in 1981, and working in Concord I have seen the toll that Medicaid underfunding has long taken upon the ability of our health care providers to recruit, and retain, staff.
I was heartened by the progress made this past legislative session in Concord to raise state Medicaid rates, which are the worst in New England – and among the nation’s worst, too. Regrettably, Gov. Sununu vetoed the state budget, which would have raised those rates. Yet I’m hopeful this will not be a sticking point in resolving the budget dispute between the parties, as support was bipartisan for uniform rate increases.
Providers and advocates are to be commended for taking a budget approach that plays no favorites. Rate increases should be uniform. Vulnerable people should not be pitted against one another. All lives matter.
LYNDA P. GOLDTHWAITE
Salisbury