DHHS chief who oversaw MaineCare expansion, pandemic response to step down

Jeanne Lambrew, commissioner of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, is stepping down from her position at the end of the month, Gov. Janet Mills announced Tuesday. 

Lambrew, who has served in the position for the duration of the Mills administration, will begin in June as the director of health care reform for the Century Foundation, a think tank in Washington, D.C. She will also serve as an adjunct professor of health policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. 

An acting commissioner will be named as the head of DHHS prior to Lambrew’s departure if a permanent leader has not been nominated by that time. 

“It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve Governor Mills and residents of the state of Maine,” Lambrew said in a statement. “The last five and a half years have been extraordinarily challenging and rewarding, with the department staff, cabinet, partners, and people of Maine responding to a global pandemic, catastrophic storms, and human tragedies with skill, compassion, and results. More work remains to be done, but the department is well-positioned to continue its vital work.” 

A seasoned health policy expert who helped the Obama administration implement the Affordable Care Act, Lambrew’s tenure leading the Maine DHHS has seen significant expansions of health services for Mainers. However, she has also faced a number of challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic and significant issues with the state’s child welfare and behavioral health systems. 

In a news release Tuesday, Mills hailed Lambrew’s accomplishments at DHHS, calling her a “once-in-a-generation public servant.” 

Mills cited DHHS’ implementation of an order issued on her first day in office to expand Medicaid, which resulted in over 100,000 residents getting access to health coverage. Under Lambrew, the department also implemented a state-based health insurance marketplace, CoverME.gov, and Mills noted that the state’s uninsured rate dropped the fastest of any state in 2021. 

Lambrew was also at the forefront of Maine’s response to the pandemic. While there were some criticisms of that response — particularly related to racial disparities and people in prison — Mills noted Maine’s high vaccination and low death rates, the work DHHS did to address disparities, as well as the overall high rating the state’s actions to fight COVID-19 received.   

Mills praised Lambrew’s work in a number of other areas as well, including helping to grow the state’s health care workforce, expand its behavioral health system, support direct community-based care, bolster the child care workforce and services for kids, and expand the department’s own capacity. 

“Leading the largest department in Maine state government — one that touches the lives of nearly one in three people in Maine and deals with some of the most difficult issues we face — is not easy by any means,” Mills said. “It brings with it immense and complex challenges, some of which we know we must continue to work on, but Jeanne has been a true leader and an unwavering source of strength and stability for the department and the people of Maine through some of our state’s most challenging times.” 

A number of long-term challenges have indeed dogged DHHS and the state during Lambrew’s time heading the department. One is the troubled Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS), which currently exists as part of DHHS.   

After a recent report showed the agency’s inability to protect children from repeated abuse and neglect, the OCFS director resigned in November. And citing longstanding issues with the office, some lawmakers have advocated for separating OCFS from DHHS.  

In her news release, Mills said DHHS has taken steps to begin addressing the problems by investing in the child welfare system, including by reducing worker vacancy rates. But nearly all of the bills this session seeking to improve that system are currently stuck in legislative limbo waiting to be funded. 

Another major problem facing the state is child care, with facility directors telling lawmakers earlier this year that they are in crisis mode as they struggle to survive financially in part due to what they say is a flawed reimbursement structure. The supplemental budget approved this year did contain some funding for the child care workforce, building on previous action taken by lawmakers and the Mills administration. 

In addition, Maine’s behavioral health apparatus has come under scrutiny, with providers, advocates and lawmakers calling the system fractured and arguing that chronic underfunding and gaps in services prevent many people from accessing the care they need. 

Mills said her administration has made historic investments in behavioral health, and she lauded DHHS’ work to launch the state’s first crisis receiving center in Portland and create the 988 crisis line, among other important reforms. 

But while Mills’ supplemental budget includes $19.6 million in mental and public health-related funding, some lawmakers have argued that isn’t enough to address the significant challenges facing the behavioral health system.