Augusta - Governor LePage's deadline for lawmakers to pass his proposed cuts to MaineCare has come and gone.

The appropriations committee has still not approved a supplemental budget.

Last Friday, the governor told the committee if they didn't pass his proposal by yesterday, the state would default on it's Medicaid payments this year. LePage also told lawmakers that failure to pass his budget could force the state to close schools and nursing homes.

Some of the governor's proposed cuts to MaineCare would violate parts of the Affordable Care Act and would require a waiver from the federal government. Many believe it's unlikely the state will get that waiver.

Nobody from the governor's office would comment on this Thursday.

Newport Republican Ken Fredette, a member of the Appropriations Committee, says they're not operating under a deadline. "$220 million is not an insignificant amount of money but within a $6.2 billion budget it's really not that much money," Fredette said thursday. "But this is a budget that's full of policy proposals that are really looking at structural problems within DHHS community. And frankly, speaking only for myself, I can only support a proposal that's going to come out that addresses those structural problems."

Fredette says he's hopeful the Appropriations Committee will pass a document that wins bipartisan support soon. That document will have a back-up plan built into it in the event the governor doesn't get the waiver from the federal government.

Print this Story

Recent Stories