Gov. Paul LePage's administration is terminating Maine's contract with a Massachusetts-based firm that was helping with the state's Medicaid application process.
Bangor Daily News reports the administration has ended a contract with Commonwealth Medicine after a year. The Shrewsbury company had previously agreed to a 25-month contract worth $5.6 million from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.
The LePage administration selected Commonwealth Medicine without evaluating other bids. Commonwealth Medicine had used a 10-employee team to evaluate disability claims for Medicaid.
Taxpayers were slated to pay $300,000 more annually for the contracted work compared to using state employees. Costs also went over the budget prepared by the DHHS.
DHHS spokeswoman Emily Spencer said in an email ending the contract allows the administration to "explore other service opportunities."