Gov. Paul LePage has announced a plan to repay a debt to Maine’s hospitals by issuing $205 million in bonds. according to the Bangor Daily News.
The state owes $484 million in unpaid MaineCare reimbursements to hospitals across the state, but the state’s payment of $186 million will trigger $298 million in matching funds from the federal government.
LePage announced the plan today during a news conference at the University of New England dental school under construction in Portland.
The BDN reports that it was not clear why the governor is planning to issue $19 million more in bond funding than what the state owes the hospitals.
Moody’s Investors Service has since May held Maine’s credit outlook as negative, a warning based on the state’s debt to its hospitals.
