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January 13, 2011

Supplemental budget to repay hospitals

By The Mainebiz News Staff

True to his promise, Gov. Paul LePage yesterday released a supplemental budget that will help repay the state's hospitals nearly $250 million in Medicaid reimbursements.

The $151 million supplemental budget includes $69.5 million in state funds that, along with federal money, will reduce outstanding Medicaid payments to 36 hospitals to $150 million, according to the Kennebec Journal. The budget also allocates $73 million to fund increased enrollment in MaineCare, Maine's version of Medicaid, and help pay for it once federal payments shrink, without which the program would run out of funds by mid-February, Russell Begin, acting commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services, told the paper. Also included is a measure to align Maine's tax laws with recent federal tax changes, necessary to avoid reprinting state income tax forms. It will cost the state $4.5 million in taxes, but will "[put] that money in Maine people's pockets where it belongs," LePage said in a press release.

The budget is mostly supported by a $111 million increase in state revenue projections and $26 million in savings initiatives, which include leaving positions vacant and continuing curtailments set by Gov. John Baldacci. The budget must be approved by two-thirds of the Legislature, and appropriations committee hearings are scheduled to begin Jan. 24, according to the paper. A full two-year budget is expected in February.

Go to the article from the Kennebec Journal >>

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