Medicaid expansion vetoed; hospital payback signed
Gov. Paul LePage has vetoed a compromise bill that would have expanded Maine's Medicaid program for three years and, in a separate action, approved a plan to pay the state's outstanding Medicaid debt to hospitals.
Following approval of the hospital payment bill, which allows the state to borrow against projected revenues from its renegotiated wholesale liquor distribution contract, LePage said he has ordered the release of voter-approved bonds for $51.5 million in transportation projects and another $53.5 million in conservation, energy efficiency and post-secondary education projects.
In his veto letter of the Medicaid expansion bill, the governor wrote he thinks the state can continue to negotiate with the federal government over the terms of the expansion, according to the Portland Press Herald.
Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government has said it will fund 100% of the Medicaid expansion cost for three years, dropping gradually to 90% after that. In a previous letter to federal officials, LePage asked for 10 years of full federal funding if the state agrees to expand the health care program for the poor.
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