The public debate is getting louder about whether or not Maine government will pay $484 million it owes to 39 hospitals across Maine. This debt accumulated over the past dozen years when our elected officials chose not to fully pay for services provided to Medicaid patients.

The $484 million accumulated because of overspending on the taxpayer-funded Medicaid program called MaineCare. This unaffordable program was originally created as a safety net for the elderly sick, disabled and working poor. Today, it includes able-bodied 19- and 20-year-olds and many middle-income families. The huge program enrolls 341,000 residents — 27 percent of our entire state.

MaineCare pays for services not covered in most other states, such as chiropractic, dental, occupational and physical therapy, and podiatry care. MaineCare dollars are spread so thin among so many residents that some of our most vulnerable do not receive the health care they desperately need.

The Maine Constitution requires our public officials to balance the state budget every June 30. I scratch my head and wonder how our leaders could claim the books were balanced while piling up hundreds of millions of dollars of unpaid hospital bills for several years running.

Our state constitution allows borrowing — by selling bonds to investors — to pay for road and bridge construction and other “capital projects.” But it prohibits state government from borrowing to pay for “operating expenses” such as public education and Medicaid benefits.

That’s why Augusta was not able to borrow money to overspend on Medicaid. Our elected officials simply chose not to fully pay the hospitals what they were owed, and racked up the $484 million hospital debt instead.

With that kind of financial mismanagement for so many years, it’s no wonder why Maine state government is flat broke and struggling to pay its bills.

Maine families are being hurt because our hospitals have not been paid what they are owed. Hospitals are laying off employees, freezing salaries and postponing purchase of new equipment to better treat patients.

Maine’s 39 hospitals employ 30,000 Mainers. Every two weeks, 30,000 paychecks buy groceries to feed the kids, heating oil to stay warm and gas for the car. Every two weeks, that $50 million payroll ripples through our economy, providing even more jobs for Mainers.

It’s time for Augusta politicians to do what’s right and pay the hospitals the $484 million they are owed.

Right now, the Legislature is considering a plan to use liquor sale revenues to pay off the debt. The plan prevents those liquor revenues from being spent on government programs, such as MaineCare, that we cannot afford. I like that idea — a lot.

Maine voters are watching to see if our elected officials will fix this serious problem they created. By finally addressing this big issue head-on, the Legislature will directly help the people they serve. S uch an opportunity does not often present itself. Let’s hope our legislators work together and have the good sense not to kick this can down the street any longer.

BRUCE POLIQUIN, of Georgetown, was state treasurer from 2010 to 2012.