Maine legislators are making decisions about severe cuts in MaineCare’s contribution to the health care industry in Maine, with a deadline of the end of January. It is unfortunate that there has not been time or opportunity to have more of a public conversation or a deeper look into the wider implication of the effect […]
MaineCare
Posted inOur View
Stop-smoking programs pay quick dividends
We’ve always known that smoking cessation programs pay their way, but the benefits were always thought to come slowly and over time. Still, employers, insurers and government agencies have all pushed cessation as a way to eventually save money. But a new study says there is only one thing wrong about this assumption: The savings […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage plan would cut MaineCare coverage for families making more than $22,350
AUGUSTA, Maine — The viability of the Dirigo Health program is closely entwined with Gov. Paul LePage’s plan to overhaul MaineCare, lawmakers learned Thursday. The governor’s proposal, designed to close an estimated $220 million gap in the Department of Health and Human Services budget, calls for axing MaineCare coverage for about 19,000 childless adults in […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
9,000 sign petition opposing MaineCare cuts
AUGUSTA, Maine — A mental health counselor hand-delivered to lawmakers on Wednesday a petition with the signatures of nearly 9,000 people who oppose Gov. Paul LePage’s planned MaineCare cuts. Jennifer Lunden, executive director of the Center for Creative Healing in Portland, gave the 917-page document to Rep. Pat Flood, R-Winthrop, co-chairman of the Legislature’s Appropriations […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Man said he tried to blow up police car to draw attention to LePage’s MaineCare cuts
BANGOR, Maine — The man charged Saturday with trying to set on fire a cruiser parked at the Bangor police station told investigators he had hoped to draw national attention to Gov. Paul LePage’s proposed MaineCare cuts by blowing up a police car. Ian Bodger, 61, of Bangor used pieces of The New York Times […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
New study disputes LePage administration on MaineCare’s childless adults
AUGUSTA, Maine — The childless adults Gov. Paul LePage has proposed dropping from MaineCare are far from young and healthy, despite rhetoric to the contrary, according to a report released Monday by an advocacy group for the poor. More than 40 percent of childless adults covered through MaineCare are older than 45 and many have […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Meeting on DHHS budget abruptly called off
AUGUSTA, Maine — The battle over Gov. Paul LePage’s proposed cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services took a new turn Thursday when the Legislature’s budget writing committee abruptly canceled a meeting scheduled for Friday. Members of the Appropriations Committee have said recently they need more information from the department before continuing deliberations […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
Cuts to MaineCare, welfare approved in spring 2011 taking effect
AUGUSTA — Changes in the state budget approved last spring and now in effect include cutting MaineCare coverage for hundreds, stopping food stamps for some and, in two weeks, telling 2,500 people receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: Your time’s up. Also coming soon: new rules that end TANF benefits for some immigrants and a […]
Posted inOp-Eds
New round of MaineCare cuts not the first
You may have read about some proposed future cutbacks in MaineCare benefits. You may not know that the state has already cut benefits to a small, voiceless group of patients. As of October, Maine eliminated health insurance for 500 permanent Maine residents who did not commit fraud and were following program rules. They lost coverage […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Crack down on MaineCare abusers, audience at Presque Isle forum says
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — A standing-room-only audience crowded into Northern Maine Community College on Wednesday afternoon for the second of three regional meetings held so that Aroostook County residents could weigh in on Gov. Paul LePage’s supplemental budget and its proposed reductions to MaineCare costs. Several urged the state to crack down on those abusing […]