Health care activists challenge Maine’s failure to expand Medicaid following voter approval News
Health care activists challenge Maine’s failure to expand Medicaid following voter approval

Health care activists filed a complaint [complaint, PDF] Monday against Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services for its failure to expand Medicaid after voters had approved its expansion in November.

The citizens of Maine voted in November to enact the Medicaid Expansion Act. The Act was effective on January 3, 2018, and provides that “the department shall submit a state plan amendment … ensuring MaineCare eligibility for people under 65 years of age” within 90 days of the effective date. The complaint alleges that the Commissioner for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services has either “failed or refused to submit the state plan amendment.”

Health care activists are requesting that the Department submit the required state plan amendment and that the court show that the Commissioner “is under an existing statutory obligation … to submit a state plan amendment … ensuring MaineCare eligibility for people under 65 years of age who qualify for medical assistance.”

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