LEWISTON — The company that lost the state contract to broker rides for MaineCare patients after thousands of complaints and missed pickups has offered bonuses to employees who stay on and keep answering the phones through next week. At least one lawmaker wants to know who’s paying for it. Coordinated Transportation Solutions’ $28 million, yearlong […]
MaineCare
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
More money, less money: the effects of not expanding MaineCare
The head of the Portland Community Health Center and her chief financial officer sat down last week to figure out which bills they could pay. They don’t have the money to pay all of them. More than half of their patients are uninsured, up from about 30 percent a few years ago. The health center […]
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Posted inConnections
Maine Dental Health Out-Reach receives $1,000 grant
WINTHROP — Maine Dental Health Out-Reach, Inc. recently received a $1,000 grant from the Northeast Delta Dental Foundation to purchase oral hygiene supplies. This grant will provide necessary assistance to Maine Dental Health Out-Reach’s Dental Hygiene Services for School Children mobile program. “The mission of Maine Dental Health Out-Reach is to improve the oral health […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
More than 5,000 applicants waiting for MaineCare acceptance
AUGUSTA — Thousands of Mainers are waiting to find out if they’re eligible for Medicaid coverage, potentially putting off needed medical care while state and federal officials sort out the bureaucratic backlog. Nationally, more than 6 million low-income Americans have gained Medicaid coverage through an expansion of the health insurance program under the Affordable Care […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Outgoing MaineCare ride broker to get millions
PORTLAND — Records show that the company that won’t have its contracts to provide rides for Maine Medicaid patients renewed because of poor performance is scheduled to receive millions of dollars in extra money from the state in its last weeks on the job. Connecticut-based Coordinated Transportation Solutions, whose contracts end this summer, already received […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
CTS to get extra MaineCare payments through June
PORTLAND — Records show that the company that won’t have its contracts to provide rides for Maine Medicaid patients renewed because of poor performance is scheduled to receive millions of dollars in extra money from the state in its last weeks on the job. Connecticut-based Coordinated Transportation Solutions, whose contracts end this summer, already received […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Barbara Leonard, MPH, and Connie Adler, MD: An ‘unnatural experiment’ on the backs of poorest Mainers
The legislative session recently concluded, and at the end it was decided to leave 32,000 Maine people without access to health insurance coverage because lawmakers did not expand MaineCare, Maine’s Medicaid program. Whether people agree with the decision or not, it is important to understand the impact it will have in this state. A week […]
Posted inLetters
In rebuttal, G. Mathews: Job creation, not welfare expansion
This is in response to Laurie Kane-Lewis’ guest column, “Embrace opportunity to expand MaineCare” (April 30). Here we go again. Another month, another writer stating what a wonderful idea it is to add 70,000 able-bodied Mainers to the state’s welfare system. Medicaid (MaineCare) was intended as a safety net for the truly needy, not as […]
Posted inLetters
G. Bennett: Where is the Maine competition?
This is in reference to news about a transportation contract for MaineCare patients. I saw on the news (also, story, Sun Journal, April 25) that the new transportation contract was awarded to a company in Atlanta, Georgia. Hmmm, isn’t that around 1,200 miles from here? Wasn’t it bad enough having the last contract sent to […]
Posted inLetters
L. Ryan: Expansion makes sense for everyone
For months, elected officials in Augusta have worked tirelessly to reach a compromise that would add Maine to the list of states that accepts federal funds to expand health care coverage to tens-of-thousands of our low-income family members and neighbors. The tremendous effort devoted to reaching an accord has involved Democrat leaders, several Republicans, providers, […]