AUGUSTA (AP) — A state judge has ordered Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s administration to file paperwork to expand Medicaid as voters demanded despite an ongoing appeal, and the governor vowed to fight the order Monday. Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy on Friday denied a motion filed by the LePage administration, which does not want […]
Medicaid
Posted inLocal & State
LePage administration appeals court’s order to put Medicaid expansion in motion
It says the judge’s decision that the state has to move ahead with expansion is unconstitutional and seeks a delay as the case is argued. The LePage administration on Thursday appealed a judge’s order this week requiring the state to begin Medicaid expansion as voters demanded in 2017. The appeal was filed with the Maine […]
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Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Governor mum on order to expand Medicaid
A Maine judge ordered the LePage administration to implement Medicaid expansion on Monday, but what happens next – and when 70,000 newly eligible Mainers can begin signing up for the health insurance – is unclear. The governor’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment Tuesday on how the administration plans to respond to the […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Judge rules that Maine must submit a plan to expand Medicaid
A Superior Court judge ruled Monday that the Maine Department of Health and Human Services and the LePage administration must follow the voter-approved Medicaid expansion law and submit a state plan amendment next week that sets the health coverage in motion for thousands of low-income Mainers. The court set a June 11 deadline for the […]
Posted inUncategorized
Judge plans quick ruling on whether Maine must submit Medicaid expansion plan
Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy said Thursday she will issue a ruling as soon as possible in a lawsuit against the state over implementation of Medicaid expansion, which Maine voters approved last year. At issue is whether the state Department of Health and Human Services must file paperwork with the federal government as outlined in […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
LePage says Maine does not have money to expand Medicaid
The LePage administration argued in a court filing this week that it cannot implement voter-approved Medicaid expansion because the Legislature did not make a “specific allocation” to do so. Without money dedicated to expansion, the state Department of Health and Human Services “plainly lacks legal authority” to spend money on it, says the court brief, […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
The impasse of Medicaid expansion
It seems that state legislators are so enamored with party politics that they have stopped considering what the people want and what is best for Maine. The current argument over expansion of Medicaid is just one of the issues they are bickering over and use as a rallying cry for the faithful on either side. […]
Posted inLocal & State
Advocates sue to force LePage administration to expand Medicaid
The advocacy group that led the successful ballot-box campaign to expand Medicaid in Maine filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to compel the state to implement the program. Maine Equal Justice Partners filed the suit in state Superior Court in Augusta, arguing that the failure to expand Medicaid is harming low-income Mainers who by law should be eligible […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Maine Democrats advance bill to partially fund Medicaid expansion
Democratic lawmakers Monday unveiled a $10.4 million bill that would partially fund a Medicaid expansion – a topic that Republican Gov. Paul LePage and state Democrats have been fighting about since Mainers overwhelmingly voted in favor of extending benefits to more people last fall. LePage has been a steadfast opponent of Medicaid expansion, which voters […]
Posted inPerspective, sj-web
After Trump clears the way, GOP states move to charge poor for health care
Gregory James Tuck Sr., a former chef in Indianapolis who is now homeless, says he has been turned away by six different doctors over the past four months while seeking treatment for high blood pressure, insomnia and, most recently, the flu that has been coursing through “the street people community.” “I haven’t signed up for […]