LEWISTON — By midmorning Monday, the state’s only health insurance co-op was getting so many calls — How do I get insurance by the deadline? Did the federal marketplace send over my sign-up information yet? How do I make a payment? — that its CEO grabbed a free desk and started answering phones. So did […]
ACA
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Catholic editor takes on modern faith at Bates
LEWISTON — Bates College students were challenged Monday afternoon to think about what it means to reconcile being a Catholic in a modern, secular society. Paul Baumann, editor of Commonweal Magazine, a 90-year-old lay-edited Catholic journal, delivered a lecture titled “Liberal, Conservative or Just Catholic? Religious Identity in a Pluralistic Age.” His daughter, Bates senior […]
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Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Survey: Mainers struggle to pay medical bills — even those with insurance
Many Maine residents, even those with health insurance, struggle to afford their medical bills, a new statewide survey has found. While the poorest Mainers reported the most difficulty affording health services, more than a quarter of residents with health coverage ran into trouble paying medical bills, according to the survey released Wednesday by the Maine […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
House passes bill requiring more disclosure for ‘narrow’ networks
AUGUSTA — The Maine House has endorsed a bill that aims to provide clarity to “narrow” health insurance provider networks that exclude some hospitals and doctors. The Democratic-led House gave initial approval to Democratic Rep. Paul McGowan’s bill with a 92-48 vote on Monday The measure would require carriers to disclose to consumers whether any […]
Posted inLocal & State
No health insurance? You have 15 days and counting
LEWISTON — Nearly every day, Cheri-Ann Parris — an enthusiastic 23-year-old Bates College grad with a warm Barbados accent — approaches perfect strangers and talks up the Affordable Care Act. It’s the law. There’s a deadline. And, she likes to add, isn’t health insurance a good thing to have? “‘You need to take care of […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Affordable Care Act help session in Lewiston-Auburn rescheduled
The free walk-in assistance event scheduled for Thursday to help people enroll in the Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplace has been rescheduled due to the storm. It will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, March 20, at the Auburn Public Library, 49 Spring St. Help sessions also are being held from 11 […]
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Maine surpasses federal targets for ACA enrollments
AUGUSTA — The federal government says more than 25,000 Maine residents have picked health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act, surpassing the target set by President Barack Obama’s administration for the entire enrollment period that ends this month. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday that 25,412 Maine residents selected plans […]
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LePage administration continues campaign against Medicaid expansion
Agriculture Commissioner Walter Whitcomb said the state’s natural resource agencies — Agriculture, Conservation, Marine Resources, Environmental Protection, and Inland Fisheries and Wildlife — had lost $13 million in state funding in just five years, a reduction he attributes to regular annual shortfalls in the the Department of Health and Human Services, which administers MaineCare. “We […]
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Organizations deliver petitions supporting Medicaid expansion
AUGUSTA — The Maine People’s Alliance has delivered more than 7,000 petitions and hundreds of postcards and personal messages urging the state to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. The petitions collected by MPA and two national organizations were delivered Thursday as lawmakers debate whether to expand Medicaid in the face of a promised […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Health official: ACA stresses patient responsibility
LEWISTON — Hospitals are making progress in managing the health of local populations, according to a speaker at Bates College on Thursday. Cindie Rice, Central Maine Medical Center’s community health assessment and wellness manager, said the federal Affordable Care Act has focused attention on making patients take more responsibility for their care. Rice underscored cooperation […]