The Fayette All-Age Friendly Committee met recently at Starling Hall, pictured here in 2024, to discuss DHHS findings on the Big Beautiful Bill and its potential impacts on Medicaid, SNAP and health coverage. (Staff photo)

FAYETTE — The Fayette All-Age Friendly Committee met recently to review a Maine Department of Health and Human Services summary of federal budget changes and discuss how they could affect local residents’ access to health coverage and food assistance.

“I think the Fayette All-Age Friendly meeting went as well as expected,” said Rep. Sharon C. Frost, U-Belgrade, who represents House District 58 for New Sharon, Vienna, Belgrade, Mount Vernon, Fayette and Rome. “As a group, we reviewed the DHHS overview of the Big Beautiful Bill’s impacts on Maine. I believe many of our constituents are fearful at this time.”

According to a July 11 DHHS blog post, the new federal law phases in major changes across MaineCare (Medicaid), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and the CoverME.gov insurance marketplace.

For MaineCare, DHHS says new work/community-engagement rules for expansion adults begin Dec. 31, 2026, (80 hours a month), with the state anticipating more than 31,000 disenrollments in year one due to documentation hurdles; eligibility renewals move to every six months starting Jan. 1, 2027, and certain immigrant groups will lose coverage Oct. 1, 2026, except for children and pregnant people. DHHS also notes a one-year moratorium on federal reimbursements for Planned Parenthood and Maine Family Planning took effect July 4, 2025.

For SNAP, DHHS reports average benefits will drop by about $26 a month beginning in fall 2025, the SNAP-Ed nutrition education grant ends in October 2025 ($4.8 million annually), work requirements expand to older adults and some parents, several exemptions, including for veterans and people experiencing homelessness, are removed, and the state’s administrative cost share will rise to 25% by 2027 with additional penalties possible for high error rates.

Marketplace changes cited by DHHS include shorter enrollment windows, the end of most auto-renewals by Jan. 1, 2028, uncapped repayment of excess premium tax credits starting Jan. 1, 2026, and new federal rules affecting eligibility for DACA recipients and other lawfully present immigrants; DHHS warns these steps raise the risk of coverage gaps and higher costs.

Frost, who serves on the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee and the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee, spoke with the committee about the law’s potential effects on children, veterans and immigrant families and encouraged residents to stay engaged as the measure advances. In Maine, bills move from committee hearings to floor debates and votes in both chambers before going to the governor.