The Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce has endorsed the acceptance of federal money to expand Medicaid in Maine under the Affordable Care Act.
In its endorsement, the Chamber said that expanding Medicaid in Maine would help low-income workers obtain affordable health care coverage and would likely reduce costs of charity care in the health care system, which are often supported by other payers in the system, The Associated Press reported.
Under the ACA Medicaid expansion plan, the federal government would pay for 100% of the costs for three years and then pay 90% in the fourth year.
Mary Mayhew, the commissioner of Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services, has sent a letter to her national counterparts that requests 10 years of full funding and additional flexibility for the state in altering its Medicare program, called MaineCare.
