WASHINGTON — If New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has his way, the unfolding presidential campaign will focus on generational fairness. It will seek to curb spending on the elderly — mainly Social Security and Medicare — without putting the elderly at risk. This debate would be good for the country, but whether the country can […]
Medicaid
Lewiston’s mayor supports change to tighten lead exposure laws in Maine
AUGUSTA — Lewiston Mayor Robert Macdonald said the poorest children in his city have enough obstacles to overcome in their lives and he hopes state lawmakers will work to make sure lead poisoning is no longer one of them. Testifying before the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee on Monday, Macdonald said he supports a […]
Debate heats up over proposed cuts to Fund for Healthy Maine
AUGUSTA — Advocates and health care providers said Monday that Gov. Paul LePage’s plan to divert money from a fund that supports community anti-smoking programs in order to maintain Medicaid reimbursements for primary care physicians is the wrong approach. The Republican’s proposed budget would cut $10 million a year from the Fund for Healthy Maine, […]
LePage spent $53,000 on lawyers in Medicaid fight with feds
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage’s administration spent nearly $53,000 on private lawyers in its failed attempt to remove thousands of low-income young adults from the state’s Medicaid program after being told by Maine’s attorney general that he couldn’t win the case, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. The Republican governor went to the 1st […]
LePage: Medicaid fight may go to Supreme Court
AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine Gov. Paul LePage said he expects that the state’s fight with the federal government over whether it can remove thousands of low-income young adults from the state’s welfare rolls will end up in the U.S. Supreme Court. The Republican governor told the Maine Public Broadcasting Network on Tuesday that he hopes the […]
Federal court rejects Maine’s Medicaid cuts
AUGUSTA — About 6,000 19- and 20-year-old low-income Mainers will continue to receive health insurance coverage under MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid program, after a federal court ruling against ’s administration on Monday. Maine Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew said in a prepared statement that “judges have gone out of their way […]
A. Kasik: Fight for Medicaid expansion
I have always been insured and count myself lucky that I have access to quality health care. I have friends however, who struggled through sickness before they could access insurance through jobs. I know a person who went without needed medications due to cost. Access to needed medication was crucial for this person and her […]
License issued to embattled mental health facility after review
RUMFORD — State regulators said they found no major problems during their periodic review of a mental health facility accused of cheating the state out of funding. Last week, Oxford County Mental Health was issued a summons by the U.S. District Court in Portland to answer a former employee’s allegations that the nonprofit did not […]
Coverage begins under New Hampshire’s expanded Medicaid program
CONCORD, N.H. — Health care coverage has begun for more than 10,000 New Hampshire residents who’ve signed up under the state’s newly expanded Medicaid program. Enrollment opened July 1 for coverage that started taking effect Friday. Gov. Maggie Hassan says 10,405 have signed up so far, or about a fifth of the estimated 50,000 adults […]
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 […]