By Dave Sherwood
BOWDOINHAM, Maine, May 23 (Reuters) – Maine’s
Democratic-controlled legislature on Thursday passed a bill that
would expand access to its Medicaid program as outlined by the
Affordable Care Act, setting up a showdown with the state’s
Republican governor, who has vowed a veto.
At issue is lawmakers’ effort to link expanded access to the
health insurance program for low-income residents to a plan to
pay the state’s share of $484 million in debt owed to Maine’s
hospitals.
Governor Paul LePage, who is frequently in conflict with
state legislators, has insisted the two issues remain separate.
“In its current form, linked to welfare expansion
(Medicaid), the governor has been crystal clear – this bill does
not have his support,” said Adrienne Bennett, a spokeswoman for
the governor. She said the administration had already begun
negotiation with the federal government regarding the mandates
in the 2011 healthcare reform law that is President Barack
Obama’s signature domestic legislative achievement.
About 15 U.S. states have said they will not participate in
the expansion of Medicaid, with 26 opting in and the balance not
yet decided, according to the Advisory Board Company, a
consulting firm that tracks the issue.
Texas lawmakers on Tuesday passed a measure, backed by
Republican Governor Rick Perry, to block the state from
participating in Medicaid expansion.
Maine legislators had proposed to use a portion of future
revenue from a renegotiated state liquor contract to pay $484
million in debt due Maine’s 39 hospitals. That proposal was
initially supported by both parties, but Republicans turned
against it last week after it was amended to increase Medicaid
access.
Democrats said the move would expand health care coverage to
an estimated 70,000 Maine citizens.
Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government agreed
to increase Medicaid eligibility and cover 100 percent of the
costs for three years, after which coverage would be reduced to
90 percent. According to a previous analysis from Maine’s
Department of Health and Human Services, Maine taxpayers would
be on the hook for an additional $75 million per year after
federal reimbursement drops to 90 percent.
Mark Eves, speaker of the Maine House of Representatives and
a Democrat, said the bill “pays the debt and helps fix the
underlying problem that contributes to high health care costs in
the first place,” citing rising costs of charity care in
emergency rooms of Maine hospitals.
LePage made a surprise appearance at a Sunday meeting of a
legislative committee on Medicaid but lawmakers did not allow
him to speak.
“The repeated attempts by Democrats to stifle debate on
bills and to prevent me from speaking in front of the
Appropriations Committee is a disturbing pattern of censorship
that should concern all Mainers,” LePage said in a statement.
(Editing by Scott Malone and Dan Grebler)
