AUGUSTA (AP) — Republican Gov. Paul LePage said he’ll continue denying applications under a voter-approved Medicaid expansion until lawmakers provide funding under his terms. Pro-Medicaid expansion advocates who are suing to force Maine to roll-out voter-approved Medicaid expansion have encouraged Mainers to apply for Medicaid expansion this summer. But LePage said the plan is to deny […]
Medicaid
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine files documents to expand Medicaid and a request to reject it
The LePage administration on Tuesday submitted required documents to the federal government to expand Medicaid to 70,000 Mainers, but there’s a catch. Gov. Paul LePage – an expansion opponent – is asking federal officials to deny the application. “I strongly encourage CMS (U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) to reject the State Plan Amendment that may […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine Supreme Judicial Court orders state to expand Medicaid coverage
Maine’s highest court has ruled the LePage administration must file a plan to expand Medicaid, even as it fights implementation of the ballot initiative approved by voters last fall. The ruling Thursday by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court delivers a blow to Republican Gov. Paul LePage, who has steadfastly opposed efforts to extend the public health coverage to […]
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Maine DHHS denying Medicaid expansion applicants as lawsuit continues
The LePage administration is rejecting applications for Medicaid from people who became newly eligible for the program under an expansion approved by voters last fall, according to documents and a progressive advocacy group that is suing the state. Maine has so far refused to expand the health insurance program, which primarily serves low-income residents, even […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine DHHS denies applications for expanded Medicaid
Denial letters have started to go out for Mainers applying for coverage under Medicaid expansion, according to documents and a progressive advocacy group that is suing the LePage administration. The Mainers are eligible for Medicaid under a new law that was approved last year by voters, but the state has so far refused to expand the health […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Court taking up LePage administration's Medicaid policy today
AUGUSTA — Maine’s highest court will hear arguments Wednesday over the LePage administration’s refusal to begin offering Medicaid coverage to tens of thousands of additional adults. Meanwhile, lawmakers and a representative for Maine’s hospitals say they have yet to see a formal plan from Gov. Paul LePage’s office detailing a proposal he made last month […]
Posted inLetters, sj-web
Send the governor to jail
In an interview recently, Gov. Paul LePage suggested that he would go to jail before he would agree to an expansion of Medicaid that could result in 70,000 additional Mainers getting affordable health care. LePage has vetoed legislation to expand Medicaid seven times. In last November’s referendum, 59 percent of Maine citizens voted for the […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine House sustains LePage's veto of Medicaid expansion
AUGUSTA — The Maine House sustained Gov. Paul LePage’s veto of a funding bill for Medicaid expansion Monday, handing the Republican another victory in his long campaign to stifle expansion of the program to another 70,000 Mainers. However, the state Supreme Judicial Court could alter the expansion picture next week, when it hears arguments in […]
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Medicaid expansion advocates urge newly eligible Mainers to apply for coverage
Dr. Renee Fay-LeBlanc says she has a patient with diabetes who can’t afford insulin or blood-sugar monitoring devices to help manage the disease. Another of her patients can’t afford inhalers to manage her chronic lung disease and has been hospitalized during the recent hot weather. Still another patient with a heart condition can’t afford the […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Paul LePage vetoes Medicaid expansion bill
Gov. Paul LePage vetoed a $60 million Medicaid expansion funding bill Friday, an expected move that sets up a veto override vote by lawmakers when they return on July 9. LePage said in a statement Friday evening that he vetoed the bill, passed by the Legislature last week, because lawmakers acted in a fiscally irresponsible […]