Politics & Co.
The fight over Medicaid expansion in Maine will roll on into the new year as Democrats want the issue back before the Legislature despite Gov. Paul LePage’s continued resistance to the idea. Obama administration officials reached out to Maine, along with other states, urging them to accept federal money to expand the health care program.
Medicaid redux
The state has employed a former Pennsylvania official who cut that state’s Medicaid rolls to review Maine’s Medicaid program and its potential expansion under the Affordable Care Act. The Portland Press Herald reported Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services will pay $925,000 to The Alexander Group of Rhode Island for the review, which drew criticism from Democratic leaders who intend to revisit the issue of Medicaid expansion when the Legislature reconvenes in January. Gary Alexander, who will lead the review, previously served as Pennsylvania’s welfare chief, where he supported policy initiatives that eliminated health care coverage for 130,000 people, including 89,000 children.
Tax calculations
A state committee is working toward a Dec. 1 deadline to study the tax implications of a plan to eliminate the state’s Business Equipment Tax Reimbursement program and transition participating businesses to the Business Equipment Tax Exemption program, which would reimburse municipalities for 60% of the cost of the tax exemptions. The governor’s two-year budget proposal said the changes are expected to save the state $11.7 million over the biennium. The BETR program reimburses 100% of qualifying business equipment expenses directly to companies.
Change on climate change?
LePage has called for Maine Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Patricia Aho to convene a group to coordinate the efforts of natural resource-based state agencies in addressing the impact of climate change. In a letter to Aho, LePage said the state’s “natural resources are the cornerstone of the economies” of many communities and that “changes in our climate may provide both opportunities and challenges.”
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