AUGUSTA — Leaders in the Legislature’s Democratic majority renewed calls Tuesday to expand the MaineCare system to cover an additional 70,000 people, including childless adults and veterans who have non-service-related medical issues not covered by the Veterans Affairs Administration. House Speaker Mark Eves, D-North Berwick, disputed Republican claims that accepting federal funds under the Affordable […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage close to naming education commissioner after Bowen’s resignation
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage may take until the end of this week to appoint an education commissioner to replace Stephen Bowen, who resigned last month to take a job with a national school reform organization, according to LePage spokesman Peter Steele. Bowen concluded his 2.5-year tenure as Maine’s education commissioner last week. “The governor […]
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LePage sparks debate over expanding Medicaid
AUGUSTA — Republican Gov. Paul LePage said expanding the state’s Medicaid program, MaineCare, would mostly benefit younger men who smoke and drink heavily. Pointing to a newly released study in the Annals of Family Medicine, LePage said expanding the state’s health care program for poor to include more single adults would only hurt elderly Mainers already on […]
Posted inBusiness, Maine, sj-web
LePage likes idea of Canadian pipeline that would carry western oil to coast
LA MALBAIE, Quebec (AP) — The governor of Maine is lending his support to TransCanada’s proposed west-east pipeline, saying his state would welcome Alberta’s oil. The transportation of crude was a key issue as the New England governors and Eastern Canadian premiers held their annual meeting Monday in La Malbaie, Quebec, where Gov. Paul LePage […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine hospitals awaiting nearly $500M from state but still seeing higher taxes, lower returns
PORTLAND — Hospitals this month will feel relief when they receive nearly $500 million from the state, but the payments don’t provide a remedy for higher taxes that hospitals are paying and lower reimbursements they’re receiving for medical services, hospital officials say. Half a billion dollars sounds like a lot of money and hospitals are […]
Posted inMaine
Common Core worries prompt LePage executive order reaffirming school privacy, local control
AUGUSTA (AP) — Gov. Paul LePage signed an executive order on Wednesday reaffirming that Maine schools are locally controlled and that students’ personal information remain private in light of concerns about new uniform benchmarks in reading, writing and math. The Republican governor’s order comes just weeks after opponents to the Common Core Standards, which have […]
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New Lee Academy headmaster looks to maintain school’s progress, improve F grade
LEE — When Bruce Lindberg became Lee Academy’s headmaster in 2005, the school’s board of trustees gave him a grim task, he says. Find new revenue sources, board members said, or you will be our last headmaster. The semi-public high school’s dwindling population and revenues made its closure inevitable, Lindberg said. So he embarked upon […]
Posted inMaine
Cutler, Michaud weigh in on governor’s record number of vetoes
AUGUSTA — If Eliot Cutler were governor today, the state’s Medicaid system would cover 70,000 more people. If Mike Michaud were governor, the state’s minimum wage would be going up. Bills aimed at passing those things into law vetoed by Maine’s Republican Gov. Paul LePage. LePage vetoed a record 82 bills, of which lawmakers could […]
Posted inOur View
Two events show government here isn’t doing its job
Behind the posturing of elected politicians, there is an actual state government to be run, a government we expect to act efficiently, effectively and professionally. But judging by two recent revelations, some parts of state government are not being run that way at all. It has been reported that federal inspectors found troubling instances of […]
Posted inMaine
Lawmakers pass bill that addresses overcrowding at Riverview
AUGUSTA — The Maine Legislature Thursday took the first tentative steps towards solving overcrowding and understaffing problems at the state’s Riverview Psychiatric Center. Meanwhile, the federal government’s Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services approved a corrective action plan for the facility after it found patient and staff safety issues and treatment shortfalls during an inspection in […]