A data set now required by law shows that only a common blood pressure drug topped Suboxone, revealing the depth of the state’s opioid crisis, although short-term scripts can skew the figures.
medicaid expansion
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine has until February to expand Medicaid
AUGUSTA (AP) — A Maine court says the state has until February to roll-out voter-approved Medicaid expansion. Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy said Thursday that the state has until Feb. 1 to adopt rules implementing Medicaid expansion for eligible Mainers who applied starting July 2. Outgoing Gov. Paul LePage appealed and requested a stay of […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
Mills to implement Medicaid expansion
Gov.-elect Janet Mills showed up at the Medicaid expansion lawsuit hearing in Maine Superior Court on Wednesday morning and said she would implement expansion immediately upon taking office. Fresh off a decisive victory in the gubernatorial election, the Democratic attorney general said she was “here to listen” to the hearing on a complaint Maine Equal Justice […]
Posted inLetters, sj-web
Access to health care a birthright
By expanding Medicaid, 31 states have gained healthy and productive work forces that recharge their state economies and pour gold into state tax coffers. The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, for example, estimates that, within 10 years, for every dollar spent on expanding Medicaid, Georgia will get $24 back. Not a single state, not even […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Paul LePage says he’d go to jail before he expands Medicaid
WESTBROOK — The political debate over Medicaid expansion in Maine continued Thursday with Attorney General Janet Mills and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee slamming Gov. Paul LePage for continuing to block expansion despite voter approval. LePage, meanwhile, vowed this week that he’d risk jail time before putting Maine in “red ink” amid his ongoing battle with lawmakers over […]
Posted insj-web
Maine House sustains LePage veto of Medicaid expansion
AUGUSTA – The Maine House Monday failed to override a Gov. Paul LePage veto of a bill that funds a voter-approved expansion of the state’s Medicaid system. Conservative House Republicans stood with LePage, voting against the override on an 85-58 tally that fell short of the two-thirds necessary. The vote came with no debate on […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage proposes increasing taxes on hospitals to cover Medicaid expansion
AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine’s Republican governor is publicly laying out a proposed tax hike on hospitals to pay for voter-approved Medicaid expansion. Gov. Paul LePage’s office says Medicaid expansion will offset a tax hike by decreasing charity care and bad debt. Maine’s hospital tax rate is 2.23 percent, and Rabinowitz said Maine could go up […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage says immigrants could ‘go home,’ jabs Medicaid expansion
PORTLAND — Gov. Paul LePage on Wednesday weighed in on the controversy over the Trump administration separating children from their parents at the border, saying the families could “go back home.” “The parents have a right to take their children and go back home,” LePage said to assembled news media after an appearance at the […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Medicaid expansion makes sense for rural Maine
Back in November, the people of Maine voted in favor of expanding Medicaid access to more Mainers. As a doctor practicing in Rumford, I was excited, thinking of how much this would benefit many of my patients. Yet, despite the clearly stated will of the people of Maine, the Legislature and governor have not taken […]
Posted inLetters, sj-web
Implement the Medicaid expansion
In November 2017, a significant number of Maine voters supported a referendum to fund Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Too many families are one or two paychecks away from economic ruin if a major illness strikes a member of their household. No one should avoid the doctors’ offices or a hospital due to […]