Former Maine health commissioner and Republican gubernatorial candidate Mary Mayhew has been tapped by the Trump administration to lead Medicaid, the health insurance program that covers more than 70 million low-income Americans. Seema Verma, head of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said in a statement Monday that Mayhew has been named deputy […]
CMS
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 inLewiston-Auburn, sj-web
Report: CMMC and St. Mary's turned away psychiatric patients, had them arrested
LEWISTON — An investigation shows two hospitals in Lewiston turned away psychiatric patients and had them arrested, causing their conditions to worsen in some cases. The Bangor Daily News reported that hospital staff at Central Maine Medical Center and St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center deleted patient records, or never recorded the encounters. Licensing inspectors found that Central […]
Posted inNation / World
Trump administration opens door to let states impose Medicaid work requirements
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration issued guidance to states early Thursday that will allow them to compel people to work or prepare for jobs in order to receive Medicaid for the first time in the half-century history of this pillar of the nation’s social safety net. The letter to state Medicaid directors opens the door […]
Posted inMaine
Paul LePage warns feds want $51 million spent on Riverview returned
AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine’s Republican governor is warning that lawmakers tasked with finding tens of millions of dollars to fund a voter-approved Medicaid expansion must also consider the potential return of $51 million in federal funding spent on the operation of a state psychiatric center. Gov. Paul LePage recently told The Associated Press he expects […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Maine doctors received more than $4M from drug, device makers in 2013
Maine doctors received more than $4 million from drug and medical device makers during the latter part of 2013, according to a new federal database that spotlights physicians’ ties with the health care industry. The searchable database includes $3.5 billion worth of legal — but often controversial — payments to doctors and teaching hospitals by all pharmaceutical […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine plans to sue to gain Riverview certification
AUGUSTA — The Maine attorney general’s office is taking another shot at regaining federal certification for the state-run Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta. At stake is millions of dollars in federal funding for the 92-bed psychiatric hospital. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services pulled the hospital’s certification last year after determining the facility […]
Posted inMaine
LePage says state should go it alone on Riverview
LEWISTON — Gov. Paul LePage’s suggestion that the state reject $20 million in federal funds for the state’s psychiatric hospital would be the “pinnacle of mismanagement,” a local Democrat said Wednesday. State Rep. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, criticized LePage for suggesting the state need not follow federal regulations at the state-run Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta. […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
St. Mary’s, MMC face penalities for infections, complications
LEWISTON — Half a dozen Maine hospitals may be penalized by the federal government for their high rates of complications and infections. The two most likely to face penalties, according to a report by Kaiser Health News, are St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston and Maine Medical Center in Portland. On a scale of […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Maine Medicare expenditures below national average
Maine hospitals are touting new data released by the federal government showing the state delivers health care to seniors more cost effectively than most of its counterparts. A Maine health care cost and quality organization, however, urged examining the numbers from a global perspective. On Monday, Medicare released a trove of data aimed at making […]