Politics

Maine Court Forces Governor To Implement Voters’ Medicaid Expansion

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A Maine court ordered the State to implement voter-approved Medicaid expansion on Monday despite Republican Governor Paul LePage’s objections.

The ruling by the state Superior Court compels the LePage administration to file paperwork to the federal government officially adopting the expansion.

Medicaid expansion supporters sued the governor’s administration after it missed an April deadline to submit an expansion plan to the federal government.

LePage cited costs as the main reason for not implementing the expansion in a May press release. The medicaid expansion “would commit the state to spending tens of millions of dollars in appropriated money in the next fiscal year alone,” according to the press release.

Maine was the first state to pass Medicaid expansion through a ballot initiative in November. The expansion will cover at least 80,000 residents of the state.

Governor LePage’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the ruling.

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