AUGUSTA — Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Paul LePage traded barbs Thursday about who’s to blame for the hold-up of voter-approved bonds. LePage has refused to issue the bonds until the Legislature replenishes the state’s budget stabilization fund, which lawmakers from both parties agreed to use $21 million from last month as part of a measure […]
MaineCare
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Federal report details Maine’s efforts to root out Medicaid fraud
Maine investigations of Medicaid fraud resulted in nearly $7.5 million in recoveries in fiscal year 2013, according to new federal data. Nearly all of that money, which includes funds due to the federal government, was owed by drug makers to settle civil charges, including improper marketing of prescription medications. One of the highest-profile cases was […]
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Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Committee sends Medicaid expansion to Maine Senate
AUGUSTA — A proposal by two moderate Republican senators to expand Medicaid and incorporate drastic changes in the state Medicaid program has cleared the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee and will now be taken up by the full Senate. The bill — crafted by Assistant Senate Minority Leader Roger Katz of Augusta and Sen. […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
State analyst: Medicaid compromise would insure 70,000 for practically no cost
AUGUSTA — A plan to expand Medicaid coverage to more than 70,000 low-income Mainers for three years would cost the state practically nothing, according to the Legislature’s nonpartisan budget office. Christopher Nolan, an analyst from the Office of Fiscal and Program Review, gave a preliminary cost-savings analysis to the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee […]
Posted inLocal & State
MaineCare sees 30 percent drop in patients on prescription opiates with new emphasis on alternative therapies
At Acadia Hospital in Bangor, individuals suffering from chronic pain, many of them for years, gather once a week to find relief in their thoughts, rather than a pill bottle. Some injured themselves at work, others struggle with debilitating headaches and neck pain. A few don’t know why they hurt. While some take prescription narcotics, […]
Posted inLocal & State
Bill meant to fix MaineCare rides program passes
AUGUSTA — The Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee on Thursday approved a bill that would revamp the state’s non-emergency medical ride program for those on MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid system. The $40 million program has been fraught with problems since a trio of companies, at the behest of the federal government, were put in […]
Posted inLetters
J. Lysen: Do what is right and moral
MaineCare expansion is vital for more than 70,000 Mainers, keeping them healthy and productive. It is also crucial to the 65 locations in Maine where community health centers, such as the B Street Health Center in Lewiston, provide care to more than 200,000 Mainers, regardless of their ability to pay. In 2011, Maine community health […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
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 […]
Posted inLetters
C. Saddlemire: Poorest Mainers being left out
Obamacare has made it possible for millions of Americans to have the affordable health insurance they deserve, and I’m one of them. During the past two years, while serving on City Council and attending graduate school, I earned very little income and found the most affordable way to maintain some health insurance coverage was a […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Lewiston superintendent: Tough budget ahead
LEWISTON — School Superintendent Bill Webster told Lewiston School Committee members to brace themselves for difficult budget decisions when he released the proposed 2014-15 budget next week. Reasons for possible cuts in positions, programs and/or higher property taxes include expected flat funding in education dollars from the state, higher MaineCare costs and no leftover cash […]