On Thursday, the Maine Senate failed to salvage a compromise budget deal that would have restored full MaineCare payments to hospitals and other medical providers.

Two weeks ago, this editorial board urged state lawmakers to take whatever steps needed to prevent this unacceptable outcome (“Threat to health care should secure supplemental budget compromise”).

The swirling opposition to the compromise deal — the opposition that wound up killing it — was based on Republican insistence on new reforms to MaineCare. That insistence has resulted in unjustifiable destabilization of our state system of health care.

Last week, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services began reducing MaineCare reimbursement to hospitals, pharmacies, medical equipment providers and out-of-state providers of a range of critical medical services.

Doctors and hospital administrators say that all Mainers will be confronted by the bitter reality of embattled clinics and reduced services, not just MaineCare patients.

You probably don’t need us to remind you that, even without this blind political interference, it can be very hard to access medical care in Maine.

Whatever follows Thursday’s failure to break deadlock, needless damage has already been done. By refusing to explore other means of securing policy reform, opponents to the deal failed their constituents. It is important that those constituents understand the stakes — that they know who was willing to let them take this hit and why.