Legislative leaders approve path for Medicaid funding to be made available sooner

Legislative leadership approved a late bill on Thursday that would make the funding in the two-year budget for Medicaid available more immediately. 

Because the issue has already been through the legislative process, Speaker of the House Ryan Fecteau (D-Biddeford) said the bill shouldn’t be referenced to a committee and instead should go straight to the Maine House of Representatives and Senate for votes. If it can secure two-thirds support, the funding would become available immediately upon the governor’s signature. 

Democrats pushed through a two-year budget in March without Republican support that continued government funding at the same level but also included one-time funding for some immediate needs, notably to fill a funding gap in MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid program. Earlier, a change package to address that gap and other emergency measures in the current fiscal year failed after Senate Republicans refused to support it unless it included structural reform to the health care program.

Because the Democrats’ budget did not garner the two-thirds support needed for an emergency measure, the Legislature adjourned to start the clock to allow the funding to take effect in 90 days, which will be just before the start of the next fiscal year on July 1.

This has left some health care providers in a bind until then. 

When the budget passed, several hospitals said they were not in a position to absorb the payment cuts they’re seeing as a result of the funding delay. On March 12, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services started capping payments owed to health care providers in an attempt to ensure some level of funding was available for the duration of the current fiscal year.

Rep. James Dill (D-Old Town), who sponsored the new proposal, underscored these concerns when presenting his bill to the Legislative Council on Thursday. 

“There are major concerns not only that some of the smaller ones may close down because of the lack of MaineCare funding,” Dill said, “but even if they don’t close down, that some of my constituents will lose their jobs even of the greater concern, not only could they lose their jobs leading to unemployment, etc., they could lose their health insurance.”

Members of the Legislative Council voted 6-2 to allow in the late bill, with the assistant minority leaders, Matt Harrington of York in the Senate and Katrina Smith of Palermo in the House, opposed. Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart of Aroostook and House Majority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham of Winter Harbor were absent. 

This bill is among a handful the Legislative Council has approved past cloture, the deadline for submitting legislation to the Revisor’s Office, which was Jan. 10.

Some of these late bills specifically aim to provide support in light of recent federal funding cuts. 

On Thursday, the council approved a late bill as a vehicle to address the possibility that the Maine Sea Grant Program within the University of Maine System may not be fully reinstated. The vote was also 6-2, with Harrington and Smith opposed.

On. Feb. 28, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration notified University of Maine that it was immediately discontinuing funding for the $4.5 million Maine Sea Grant, which helps finance statewide research, strengthened coastal communities and supported thousands of jobs over more than five decades. 

While one of 34 such grants, Maine’s was the only one terminated, a decision that came about a week after President Donald Trump threatened to withhold funding from the state for not complying with his executive order barring transgender students from competing in women’s sports. After outcry from Maine’s congressional delegation, NOAA announced it will be renegotiating the grant. 

“It remains unclear at this time whether the Maine Sea Grant will be fully reinstated,” said Rep. Holly Stover (D-Boothbay), the bill sponsor. “The loss of the Maine Sea Grant will have devastating consequences to our fisheries, coastal communities and economies statewide.”

Every federal dollar spent on the Sea Grant results in $15 of economic activity in the state, amounting to a total annual impact of $23.5 million.

In February, the Legislative Council also approved a measure to help farmers secure low interest loans to backfill commitments after the Trump administration froze funding for existing contracts.

Among other bills deemed non-emergencies, the Legislative Council voted against allowing any late submissions for joint resolutions to Congress, with Fecteau and Senate President Daughtry (D-Brunswick) arguing they would consume more time and resources than is available for the remainder of the special session. 

“There’s a lot of work that still needs to be done,” Fecteau said, “and I generally don’t think the Congress listens to us, frankly.”