AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage reiterated the need for a sweeping overhaul of MaineCare at the State House on Thursday, while elsewhere in the building scores of opponents testified before lawmakers for a second day. At a public hearing on the governor’s proposed cuts to MaineCare, many spoke out against planned funding rollbacks for […]
MaineCare
Posted inLetters
C. Therriault: Lack of compassion
The column (Dec. 11) by Scott Lansley, a Sabattus selectman, made me ashamed to live in Sabattus. He favors severe cutbacks to MaineCare. Some of his words just blew me away: “My suggestion to you folks (MaineCare recipients)” is to “suck it up, get a job or move on to a state that will allow […]
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Posted inLewiston-Auburn, sj-web
Demonstrators rally against DHHS cuts
AUGUSTA (AP) — Several hundred demonstrators gathered in a show of force as the Maine Legislature launched hearings into Gov. Paul LePage’s proposal to cut Medicaid to shore up a projected $221 million budget shortfall. One of the speakers, Auburn resident Rich Livingston representing AARP, said Wednesday that the governor’s proposed cuts would destroy the […]
Posted inLetters
P. Pulkkinen: The state must do better
Clearly, the status of state government finances is dire. One only has to look at the news about proposed state budget cuts. They are nothing short of devastating. Take, for example, the Medicare Savings Program. More than $12 million could be cut from the Fund for Healthy Maine, eliminating the benefit and payment of Medicare […]
Posted inLocal & State
Baldacci staffer to LePage: Don’t blame us
AUGUSTA — Yes, the rolls have grown, and David Farmer says Maine’s healthier for it. Farmer, former deputy chief of staff for Gov. John Baldacci and now a political media consultant, was in Augusta on Wednesday helping to organize a rally that took issue with Gov. Paul LePage’s proposal to trim MaineCare. LePage has complained, […]
Posted inOur View
MaineCare cut would result in phony savings
Message to governor: A budget cut is not a cut if taxpayers end up paying the bill, anyway. And that, we fear, would be the result of Gov. Paul LePage’s plan to remove as many as 30,000 adults from the state’s Medicaid program. This is a new budget cut the governor is proposing to deal […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Bill would require drug testing for MaineCare
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Lawmakers are considering a bill to require random drug testing for MaineCare recipients. The bill, sponsored by Republican Sen. Thomas Saviello of Wilton, would suspend benefits for MaineCare recipients who test positive for scheduled drugs. The bill was reviewed Monday by the Health and Human Services Committee, which also took up […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Maine lawmakers take up welfare changes in budget
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A crowd of demonstrators filled a State House hall to protest Gov. Paul LePage’s proposed cuts in welfare and MaineCare programs, changes the administration says are due in large part to the end of federal stimulus funding and added enrollments. A couple of hundred demonstrators outside the governor’s office chanted “Don’t […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Dora Mills removed as MaineCare med director
Dr. Dora Anne Mills, who was Maine’s top doctor as head of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention for nearly 15 years, was fired from her new job Wednesday, sources say. Mills, who was medical director for MaineCare, declined to comment Wednesday. “I’m surprised,” said Ed Miller of the American Lung Association in […]
Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, River Valley
Rumford Hospital to be reimbursed for much of MaineCare costs
RUMFORD — Rumford Hospital Chief Executive Officer John Welsh was pleased that the state is scheduled to begin repaying overdue MaineCare reimbursements, a plan that will provide the local facility with some cash reserves and a chance to replace some critical care equipment. The hospital is one of three dozen statewide that is scheduled to […]