© 2024 Maine Public | Registered 501(c)(3) EIN: 22-3171529
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Scroll down to see all available streams.

Maine Court To Hear Latest Medicaid Expansion Arguments

A Maine judge is set to hear the latest legal arguments over the future of voter-approved Medicaid expansion.

Oral arguments are set for Wednesday, following the election on Tuesday.

The judge will decide whether Republican Gov. Paul LePage's administration has broken the law by stalling expansion.

Nearly three out of five Mainers last fall approved expanding Medicaid to 70,000 low-income residents. But the referendum didn't include a funding source for Maine's share, and LePage has opposed expansion over his financial concerns.

LePage vetoed a bill to fund Medicaid expansion with budgetary surplus and one-time tobacco settlement funds.

A pro-Medicaid expansion group says LePage's administration is violating the spirit of a court order to submit paperwork for federal funding. Maine submitted the paperwork but LePage urged federal regulators to reject it.