AUGUSTA, Maine — The LePage administration has no plans to cut services for children living in group homes, lawmakers deliberating the governor’s plan to overhaul MaineCare were told Monday.
Gov. Paul LePage’s proposal, designed to close an estimated $220 million budget gap at the Department of Health and Human Services, calls for cutting funding to residential care facilities known as “private nonmedical institutions” to save $60 million. The rollbacks, opposed by both Republicans and Democrats, will affect the elderly, mentally ill and developmentally disabled, among others, but spare children living in those facilities.
Rumors have circulated that LePage plans to target children’s PNMI services in his next budget, Rep. John Martin, D-Eagle Lake, said Monday.
“I want to know if we have a bomb coming,” he said at a meeting of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee.
DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew acknowledged the hearsay, saying she had spoken to U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ office about the concerns, but confirmed that LePage has no plans to cut children’s PNMI services.
“Lots of rumors everywhere,” she said. “Children’s PNMI was not included for repeal as part of this budget submission. There’s no plan to bring it forward.”
Martin said he raised the issue to put an end to the rumors.
DHHS is, however, examining the broader PNMI program, including services for children, to address concerns by the federal government about Maine’s funding model, Mayhew said. LePage has said Medicaid officials object to Maine’s use of federal dollars to fund the room and board portion of PNMI costs.
The Appropriations Committee is scheduled to meet throughout the week on the DHHS budget.
Perhaps that is why it is best to talk to people about the intentions they have rather than speculate and create wild innuendo and become hostile.
How many times can I “like” that comment. Not enough.
Many elderly, mentally ill and developmentally delayed are like children. What will happen with them?
They’ll end up starving or dying of untreated illnesses on the street…if they don’t freeze to death first. Not only does LePage want to take away Mainecare for these elderly, mentally ill and developmentally delayed people…he wants to take away the financial help provided for their residential services. We are talking THOUSANDS of the most vulnerable people in Maine…and there are only roughly 400 beds in public facilities available. People WILL die if LePage gets his way. It will be the fault of LePage and EVERY LAST person who supports him on this if he’s not stopped and he gets his way. He’s sunk so low at this point that about the only thing left he can do to hurt this state is start killing people…and that’s just what he’s trying to do with this. You don’t give tax breaks when it means you have to put these populations on the street with no help. Talk about some warped priorities.
So he wants to cut 60 million by denying serrvices to the elderly, handicapped and mentally ill. What happened to his big promise not to harm the elderly. Who is less fortunate and needy than the handicapped and the mentally ill ? But he took care of the rich day one.
This man has no compassion or integity. If you for one minute believe that he will not go after the children next just look back at all of the other lies he has told.
There is no doubt that we have budgetary problems but we need to attack them in rational manner without harming those most in need. Hopefully our legislator are more level headed and not puppets of the Maine Heritage Foundation.
Send the state more tax money so they can apply it to those you speak about.
Socialism is great until you run out of other people’s money.
I would rather think my tax dollars spent to support these groups is called being humane.
I know I would have been better off in my dotage had Augusta stayed away from health insurance in 1993-4.
Oh what a load of crap, take a drive up the coast from Kittery to Rockland and tell me these people are falling on hard times. The rich just want more more more. THAT is unAmerican, not Socialism. If anything Socialism IS Patriotism.
So when you get old we kick you to the side and lighten our load ?
How about we let Maine people freely contribute to MaineCare as they can afford instead of just taking the money from those families who can’t spare it?
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Do you have any idea how much it is going to cost the State to defend the lawsuits that will come from the mentally ill? Cutting funding to the mentally ill violates the Consent Decree. The state is required to take care of these people in the least restrictive environment, which means we can’t just send them to the institutions. These PNMI’s are the least restrictive environment. So have fun in court LePage.
paul is a facist
So he is a fasist? You are comparing this man to the likes of Hitler now? Do you honestly in your heart think that Gov. LePage will take all of our elderly, mentally handicapped and down trodden to concentration camps and gas them? Honestly, get a freekin’ clue in life.
Now, I have no problem giving a helping hand to anyone that needs one but it is entirely true in previous posts – Socialistic aid is very nice when you have the money for it. So here is my two cents to a solution for the problem: 1. Anyone on any state or municipal aid is good for a term of 5 years. This is more than enough time to get an education or a trade and make a better life for yourself. If you need more than 5 years then prove it. 2. To all of you that don’t want any money cut from any DHS budget, grab your checkbook and send in a check. Obviously you want to help people, so put your charitable heart where your mouth is. If you don’t want to send in a check to help out then send in your address because we have some homeless families that would love to move into your guess rooms. Put up or shut up will you.
he will deny them of medical care for one thing
1. Mental illness, and old age don’t stop at your five year limit, unless the old person dies of course. Because of the states ill treatment of the mentally ill, they lost a lawsuit, so the state is required to provide assistance for the mentally ill in the least restrictive environment by court order, so again, a 5 year limit is a restriction that is based on finance, not what is best for a person with mental illness.
2. We fund DHHS with every pay check, I’ve been funding it every week since i was 16
3. You would be right-ish if we were in the middle of an economic boom and employers were begging for employees, we aren’t so where do these people get jobs to get off assistance?
No, his “final solution” is much less grandiose. Concentration camps and gas chambers cost too much and are too obvious. Lack of healthcare, hypothermia and malnutrition will cost the wealthy much less than a Hitler-like answer.
I ask myself, why are they cutting the elderly, who have paid taxes in all their life, it’s their money.
I ask why is there so much welfare when people can insure their adult child until they are almost middle aged, if they insure then they should be living at home and supported by the parents and not the tax payer.
I ask why are these people discriminating against handicapped? Who would have chose a differnt body, had it been their choice.
I ask why bother helping kids in homes, they are just going to grow up, become adults, handicapped and elderly, and then what, tell them we raised them up so they could die of starvation, health problems and or exposure?
I think we should be asking why is it people who had insurance for the last 30 years, HMO, preventive care insurance, but mass amounts are dying who are in their 40’s and 50;s of cancer.
Why do I get the feeling the HMO insurance purposely made these people ill by not taking care of issue back when they were first found, before they were a problem?
I think medical needs to be cheap, the government butts out and insurance companies exixtence denied until they fade away.
I also think the family unit needs to pull back together take care of each other better.
Wow, the E.R.s are gonna be swamped. I wonder how many people will try to get their kids into a home just so they can get healthcare?
Rumor mongering?
i used to trust ERs but now i dont trust no one it makes it hard with the medical conditions i have especially heart and diabetes . i have mainecare and you know i dont trust anyone these days
Healthcare in our country should be a given, with no cost, just like Canada, our Governors homeland.
another thing i dont trust them because i know they arent going to treat me right because of the cuts in mainecare
Waldo county general will provide you with top notch care regardless of insurance go there if you can.
The last paragraph essentially negates the rest of the article. They are cutting children’s services, they’re just doing under the auspices of reorganizing because of the Medicaid audit. This is just another shallow lie by the Penguin administration.
How is it that the LePage administration argues that it must make cuts to adult PNMIs because the Fed says Maine can’t use Medicaid funds to pay for them, yet that it has no plans to do the same for children PNMIs – which are funded the same way?
The article does say DHHS is examining the entire PNMI system to bring it in line with federal stipulations.
Changing PNMI’s to Waviered homes is the plan — This will not cost the state more money, but it will cost more for the same level of care…the money will just come from the federal government. Rates for individuals in waviered homes is more than in PNMI’s
I am honestly so tired of seeing all of these articles about what LePage will be or won’t be cutting – elderly services, children’s services, mental health services, and finally a threat to children’s education in general. How is it that he can justify cutting much needed services for those who truely need them to maintain or achieve a minimum standard of living, while overlooking the ridiculously bloated administration that he sits upon? I would gladly pay my tax dollars knowing that they go to assisted living services, or childrens education budgets, rather than to pay for a state administrative assistant to the assistant to the department head’s vacation home.
Then the best way for your desires to be realized is to cut the government spending and rely on the generosity of people such as yourself to donate money to support the needy. As long as we all expect government to care for people we will be paying for “a state administrative assistant to the assistant to the department head’s vacation home.”
LePage wants to hurt the elderly and disabled. Cut some unneccasry school programs.
That ogre LePage wants to keep all the children fat and healthy so he can eat them for breakfast.
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Lets spend the money for children’s PNMI’s then when they turn 21 they’re out on their own with no supports — good plan! If they needed supports and that type of living situation during their childhood years what changes as they become adults? Just wondering what the rational is for this type of thinking.
rational????????????????????????????????????????????????????
I keep saying that those with the power should talk with the people in each area that actually do the work in order to find out ways to save money. The “Shared Living” model of oversight for people living in homes is ridiculous. On average 110.00 a day for a person to be someone’s home — approximately 50.00 a day goes to the agency for “oversite” of the home. The provider of the service only see’s 60.00 for providing 24 hour care. Another area that could free up some money for more people to be covered under the service would be to stop paying home providers for 24 hour care when a person can spend up to 8 hours a day at home by themselves. The way the system works now is that no matter how disabled the person is everyone is paid the same amount of money…so if you have a client living with you that requires complete assistance with everything you get paid the same amount per day as a client that can be by themselves all day with no supervison. Something is wrong with this system.
Thank you Sire for not throwing the Little Ones into the street.
Your royal compassion knows no bounds!
The majority of these negative posts against LePage truly show what is wrong with this WELFARE State. You people just don’t get it, WE’RE BROKE. Talk about greed? LePage can’t cut enough of you duds off the system. Keep cutting Governor, get these duds off my payroll. Don’t care if your homeless, sick, mental, hungry, cold, need a pep talk, abused as a child, etc.. That’s your problem, not mine.
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Yup!
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The final word in Storm’s post says it all: “mine”.
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WE’RE BROKE, but not broke enough to send some tax breaks to the wealthy? That’s the fact that you cons conviently leave out, and avoid at all costs.
“You people just don’t get it, WE’RE BROKE. ” We aren’t really broke, we’re just busy protecting campaign donor’s wealth.
If you believe for one second that he isn’t going after the children guess again!! He already threatened to cut schooling and end school in may.. What makes you think he has the compassion or the honesty to be credible in this affair.. It is a say whatever do whatever just pass my budget type thing right now.. He is a lying SOB and he will stop at nothing to help his rich get richer and the poor get poorer..
Why not take it from those who can spare it? Like the folks making millions in capital gains but paying a lower rate than the working stiff. When did those that “have” become more important than those that “need”? Spare me the labels (socialism) and the name calling (liberal, fraud, etc), and address the human issue: how do we propose to deal with the healthcare needs of those who lose the coverage they now have? Their problems won’t just evaporate, and they will receive care of some sort. How is that paid for? Or do we just provide more pauper’s burials?