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 […]
Medicaid
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Legislature to consider Katz-Saviello proposal to expand Medicaid
AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine’s Democrat-controlled Legislature is poised to vote on a Republican-backed measure to expand Medicaid under the federal health care law. Initial votes on the measure are expected in the Senate as early as Tuesday. Under the bill crafted by Assistant Republican Leader Roger Katz and Sen. Tom Saviello, Maine would also implement […]
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GOP leadership offers alternatives to expanding Medicaid in Maine
AUGUSTA — Republicans who oppose a proposal to expand Medicaid under the federal health care say many Mainers have an alternative: Buying cheap private plans on the exchange with tax credits. But critics say those making less than roughly $12,000 a year won’t receive help to pay for plans on the exchange. According to the […]
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
Lawmakers to debate Medicaid expansion today
AUGUSTA — A Maine legislative panel is once again examining a bill that would expand Medicaid under the federal health care law and make other significant changes to the state’s program. The Health and Human Services Committee will hold a work session Monday on the Medicaid expansion measure crafted by two Republican senators. The committee […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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Maine GOP state senators introduce Medicaid expansion bill
AUGUSTA — A pair of Republican state senators rolled out a bill Tuesday that would expand the state’s Medicaid program, MaineCare, a proposal that so far has been largely opposed by Republican Gov. Paul LePage and rank-and-file members of the party. State Sen. Tom Saviello, R-Wilton, and Senate Assistant Minority Leader Sen. Roger Katz, R-Augusta, […]
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Organizations deliver petitions supporting Medicaid expansion
AUGUSTA — The Maine People’s Alliance has delivered more than 7,000 petitions and hundreds of postcards and personal messages urging the state to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. The petitions collected by MPA and two national organizations were delivered Thursday as lawmakers debate whether to expand Medicaid in the face of a promised […]
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Maine GOP accuses House speaker of having conflict of interest
AUGUSTA — A group of Republican lawmakers is pressuring House Speaker Mark Eves, D-North Berwick, to recuse himself and his staff from advocating for Medicaid expansion under the federal Affordable Care Act because of Eves’ job with a mental health care provider that accepts Medicaid patients and holds Medicaid-funded contracts. A group of Republicans, led […]