PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - An effort to expand Medicaid coverage in Maine has qualified for the November ballot.
The citizens’ initiative will appear on the ballot if lawmakers do not pass it into law without alterations.
The Mainers for Health Care campaign said the additional federal funding would cover tens of thousands of state residents who can’t afford health insurance, but have been denied coverage through Medicaid.
GOP Gov. Paul LePage has vetoed MaineCare expansion successfully five times. He’s said that the state has only recently paid off debt to hospitals for unpaid Medicaid services, which totaled almost $500 million.
But how Republicans will reshape former President Barack Obama’s health care law remains uncertain. In light of that, the Maine GOP called the referendum a moot point and a waste of state resources.
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