When Silence Becomes Part of the Problem

For years, I’ve been warning that Maine’s long-term care system was collapsing. I saw it as a board member, I felt it in facilities, and I heard it in the voices of families. The bottom was already dropping out.

And yet, while the crisis grew louder, our leadership stayed quiet where it mattered. This winter, instead of tackling Medicaid reform and the realities of aging in Maine, our governor spent her time throwing stones at the president on issues that didn’t add up to Maine’s demographic reality. Meanwhile, the oldest state in the nation was left with a broken system and no plan.

Here’s the truth: Medicaid was never designed to carry aging services. It’s a safety net. It supports kids, people with disabilities, and basic medical needs. But when it comes to long-term care — home care, assisted living, nursing homes — Medicaid simply isn’t the right tool. And yet, because partisan politicians have been unable to come together, the conversation narrowed to one question: fund it or cut it.

That framing has been disastrous. A yes/no debate doesn’t reflect the gray reality families are living. And while party leaders defended their positions, families were left holding the weight.

I believe aging services should be pulled out of Medicaid altogether and rebuilt as infrastructure — like schools, like roads. Predictable. Reliable. Something you can count on. Because until that happens, families will keep breaking under the strain.

Maine shows us what happens when leadership stays silent, when partisanship takes priority over people. If it can happen here, in the oldest state in the country, it can happen anywhere. And unless we change course, it will.