Statement from DGA Chair Governor Martin O’Malley on Romney’s Medicaid Plan

Washington, DC – Governor Martin O’Malley, chair of the Democratic Governors Association, released the following statement today after Mitt Romney unveiled his plan for Medicaid:
“Mitt Romney’s plan to end Medicaid as we know it would be a gargantuan leap backwards. He brags about wanting to cut Medicaid by hundreds of billions of dollars each year, but what he won’t tell you is that his idea – stemming from Paul Ryan and his far-right congressional caucus – has already been debunked. Similar plans to block grant Medicaid in the Ryan budget were evaluated by independent experts, and they found that states would have to cut between 14 and 27 million people who currently have Medicaid from the program in order to balance their budgets. Most of these people would be seniors in nursing homes who have outlived their savings, low-income mothers and children, and adults with disabilities.
“This game of Social Darwinism, of balancing budgets on the backs of the poor and the middle class, has got to end. I urge my Republican friends to take another look at the American Jobs Act put forth by President Obama so that we can continue to create jobs and expand opportunity.”