Small businesses can now see how much health insurance might cost them through the upcoming Affordable Care Act health insurance exchange. The Maine Bureau of Insurance on Friday released its comparison of small group rates proposed for the exchange, or marketplace. “Small group” is defined as 50 or fewer people. For smokers, Maine Community Health […]
health care
Posted inBusiness, Local & State
Maine hospitals face Medicare penalties for readmissions
List of penalties imposed on Maine hospitals A dozen Maine hospitals face Medicare penalties in round two of the federal government’s push to lower the number of patients who wind up back in the hospital within a month of being discharged. Compared to other states, Maine’s hospitals ranked near the top, at seventh nationally by […]
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Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Lewiston Mayor Macdonald opposes Anthem plan
LEWISTON— Mayor Robert Macdonald on Monday came out against a plan by Anthem insurance that could take Central Maine Medical Center and more than 300 affiliated physicians off of Anthem’s approved provider list for most individuals. In a news release issued through City Hall, Macdonald urged residents to attend public hearings on the change and […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Maine DHHS says schools overbilled Medicaid
AUGUSTA — More than two dozen Maine school systems have been told that they’ve overbilled Medicaid for speech therapy and other services provided to low-income students with disabilities. The Kennebec Journal reports (http://bit.ly/1859qgv) that the state Department of Health and Human Services has notified districts about improper billing that could cost some of them hundreds […]
Posted inLocal & State
State compares individual health insurance plans for exchange
Let the shopping around begin. The state has released numbers that, for the first time, allow Mainers to compare individual insurance plans proposed for the upcoming Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchange, or marketplace. In some cases, similar plans had almost identical price tags. In others, the difference was hundreds of dollars a month. A […]
Posted inOp-Eds
America needs cost-effective universal health care
In recent months, the people of Maine have witnessed activity by many different players in the health care system as Maine moves to implement the Affordable Care Act. We’ve seen Gov. Paul LePage veto the expansion of MaineCare, which will leave 70,000 Mainers without access to health care. We’re watching MaineHealth and Anthem try to […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Little advertising in Maine for health care law
AUGUSTA (AP) — Some states are gearing up to help get the word out about the new federal health care law, but Maine officials are taking a more hands-off approach. Maine’s community groups and health centers are getting about $2 million to promote the new health insurance marketplace, or about $1.50 per state resident. But, […]
Posted inBusiness, Nation / World, sj-web
Battle of mandates: GOP demands more time on health care law
WASHINGTON (AP) — If businesses get an extra year to meet a new health care mandate, why not everybody else? Republicans, seizing on the White House delay for employers, are demanding that the Obama administration give individual Americans an equal break. But the White House says that’s just a thinly disguised gambit for dismantling the […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Federal government awards $66,000 to Leeds health center
LEEDS — The DFD Russell Medical Center has received $65,930 from the federal government to boost staff and help people enroll in health care coverage. The medical center is one of 19 Maine health centers that received $1.4 million in grants announced by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Wednesday. The DFD Russell Medical Center has facilities […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Linda Sanborn: Mainers deserve affordable health care
Mainers deserve the medical care they need, when they need it, without facing huge medical bills. Over the past six months, Democrats have worked tirelessly to extend health insurance to more Maine people by accepting federal health care dollars set aside for Maine under the Affordable Care Act. No man, woman, or child should ever […]