The Maine Attorney General’s Office is no longer defending the Maine Department of Health and Human Services in a federal whistle-blower lawsuit brought by a former Maine Center for Disease Control division director. DHHS, which oversees the CDC, has two new lawyers. And as the lawsuit continues, computer hard drives have been taken from several […]
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Maine Democrats ask LePage for messages around CDC document-shredding case
AUGUSTA — The Maine Democratic Party on Monday announced it has filed a public records request with Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s office asking for information about a change in funding for Healthy Maine Partnerships in 2012. The funding change orchestrated by the Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention has come under fire after a […]
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Former director says FBI investigating Maine CDC
Sharon Leahy-Lind said Friday in an interview with the Sun Journal that she has “fully cooperated with the FBI” while investigators there look into issues at the CDC. A spokesman for the CDC said he was unaware of an FBI investigation. A spokesman for the FBI said he could neither confirm nor deny an agency […]
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DHHS chief Mayhew says budget gap only totals $78 million
AUGUSTA — The projected budget shortfall for the state’s Health and Human Services Department will be significantly less than originally projected, the department’s commissioner said Friday. DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew told lawmakers on the budget-writing Appropriations Committee that the updated forecast incorporates six months of data from the current fiscal year, leading to a $30 […]
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State’s attorneys general ask to withdraw from CDC whistle-blower case
LEWISTON — Two assistant attorneys general who had been defending the Maine Department of Health and Human Services and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and its director, Dr. Sheila Pinette, in a federal whistle-blower case have asked the court if they can withdraw as defense counsel. In a joint motion filed Friday, Assistant […]
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Experts: Alexander report on Medicaid expansion could use some expansion
That was supposed to change this week as Gary Alexander delivered his Medicaid expansion feasibility study to the Legislature. Alexander, a former human services chief for Republican governors in Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, is the consultant chosen by Gov. Paul LePage’s administration to examine Maine’s Medicaid and welfare programs and recommend money-saving reforms. But as […]
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HHS committee grills author of Medicaid report
AUGUSTA – State lawmakers Tuesday picked apart the first portion of a nearly $1 million report on Maine’s welfare programs that’s being completed by a private company hired by the administration of Republican Gov. Paul LePage. While Republican lawmakers on the Legislature’s Health and Human Service Committee were largely complimentary of the work being done […]
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Advocates protest proposal that would keep assistance from new immigrants
AUGUSTA — A range of groups focused on human rights and social justice rallied at the State House on Friday to cry foul over a proposal by the Department of Health and Human Services to deny general assistance to immigrants newly arrived in Maine. Robyn Merrill, a senior policy analyst for Maine Equal Justice Partners, […]
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Consultant says expanding Medicaid in Maine could cost $807 million
AUGUSTA — A consultant’s report that shows expanding Medicaid in Maine could cost the state $807 million over 10 years renders the proposal unaffordable, Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew said Friday. The long-awaited report’s findings were presented at a news conference by Mayhew and Gary Alexander, the author of the report […]
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Maine Democrats say there is a $100 million shortfall in DHHS budget
House Majority Leader Seth Berry, D-Bowdoinham, told reporters during a news conference Friday that in addition to rumors he and his colleagues have heard this week, LePage confirmed the $100 million DHHS shortfall to legislative leaders during a meeting on Thursday. “This has been going around the building and through the grapevine,” said Berry. “The […]