Medicaid a factor in Maine's low personal income ranking
Maine’s personal income grew by only 0.5% in 2014’s first quarter, ranking the state 39th in the country for personal income growth and last in New England.
The Bangor Daily News reported that Maine’s personal income growth was lower than the 0.8% national average, according to a new analysis by the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis. The state generated $55.5 billion in personal income for the first three months of 2014, an increase over the $54 billion from the same period last year.
Gov. Paul LePage’s refusal to expand Medicaid in Maine played a factor in the state’s slow growth rate, the Portland Press Herald noted. That’s because the report by the Bureau of Economic Analysis included “transfer receipts,” or the flow of income from government in various kinds of payments, as a measurement for personal income growth.
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