AUGUSTA, Maine — House Republicans postponed debate and action on the Department of Health and Human Services supplemental budget on Wednesday to allow proposed amendments to be drafted, a process that could make or break a deal.
Last week, members of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee agreed unanimously on a compromise budget package that would address a $120 million shortfall in the current fiscal year DHHS budget.
As part of a bipartisan compromise, the latest budget proposal caps MaineCare funding for childless adults, or noncategoricals, at $40 million by freezing enrollment and through natural attrition. That would reduce the number of noncategoricals on the MaineCare rolls but would not eliminate them from coverage, something Gov. Paul LePage wanted.
The committee also agreed to reduce the eligibility threshold for parents of children on MaineCare from 200 percent of the federal poverty level to 133 percent. That change will not take effect until October.
Since the budget passed through the Appropriations Committee last week, its details have been discussed at Republican and Democratic caucus meetings.
In order for the budget to go into effect immediately, a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate need to vote for it. That could be a tough needle to thread for both sides.
“We worked hard in Appropriations to vote out a budget that struck a balance, but it’s not a Democratic budget,” said Rep. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, the ranking minority member on Appropriations.
Rep. Andre Cushing, R-Hampden, the assistant House majority leader, said he thinks the fact that the Appropriations Committee approved the budget unanimously is a good sign that it reflects compromise.
“I think the dynamic of the governor’s strong position has complicated things,” he said. “But we have to and we will pass a budget.”
On Thursday, though, when the budget hits the House floor for debate, lawmakers will consider several amendments that have been submitted since Tuesday.
One amendment, sponsored by Sen. Doug Thomas, R-Ripley, would address a small portion that has riled conservative House members and the Maine Heritage Policy Center, which has considerable influence in the party.
The budget compromise preserves a tax on insurance claims with Dirigo Health that had been set to drop from 1.87 to 1.64 percent. By keeping the tax at 1.87 percent, the state would retain about $5 million in revenue.
Thomas’ amendment would restore the planned reduction but that $5 million would need to be addressed.
Democrats are likely to go along with that amendment in exchange for restoration of an estimated $14 million in funding to hospitals for the rest of fiscal year 2012 and 2013, according to Rotundo.
Another amendment, offered by Sen. Cynthia Dill, D-Cape Elizabeth, would restore funding for MaineCare eligibility for parents earning up to 200 percent of poverty and would offset those costs by increasing savings through hospital emergency care management and reimbursement reform for hospital emergency care services.
There is not likely to be Republican interest in supporting Dill’s amendment.
Gov. LePage has expressed displeasure with the compromise budget in the last week, but it’s still not clear if he will support it. His spokeswoman, Adrienne Bennett, said Wednesday that the governor wants to see the final bill and any amendments before he weighs in.
In December, LePage unveiled his plan to cut $220 million from DHHS to address a shortfall in 2012 and 2013. That initial plan would have removed 65,000 people from MaineCare by making structural changes to the program he says are necessary to keep it solvent in the years ahead.
Appropriations Committee members rejected some items in the governor’s budget and worked for weeks to find alternatives.
Cushing said House members have been told to expect double sessions on Thursday with the goal of passing the budget before lawmakers go home for the day.
The budget then goes to the Senate where the process starts all over again.
So that dippy Cape Elizabeth lawyer Cynthia Dill thinks she’ll save millions through “…hospital emergency care management and reimbursement reform for hospital emergency care services.”???
Isn’t that politician/legalese for: “We’ll just pay the hospitals less”???
Gotta love the 1%ers who p-r-e-t-e-n-d to be like the rest of us poor slobs… just to get elected!!!
Pay them less? Heck, When Baldacci and the Dems were in charge they just didn’t pay the bills from the hospitals. Dill is crazy, but what she is proposing is SOP for the Maine Dems. LePage is trying to pay the hospitals what they are due. Some of the bills are 5 years old. If Baldacci and the Dems had paid the bills we would have a surplus now.
Might be, based on how it’s being said in the paper. But there IS a lot of money to be saved in the managed care system through emergency room costs. I’m all for maintaining MaineCare rolls as they are, but that doesn’t mean I’d be opposed to, say, kicking people off for a certain amount of non-emergency trips to the ER in a certain amount of time. The ER is not where someone should be going with a cold, for instance.
Also, we need to better manage the expenses of the 5% of recipients who use half the MaineCare money. What bugs me is that LePage’s budget basically said, “we need to save X amount of money, so we’ll just cut entire programs until we hit that figure”. We need solutions that are based in the real world, not moves like cutting the entire PNMI system just to score political points. It would appear that is what the Legislature is attempting to do — real solutions, that is. Not ones that make me happy, but at least they’re actually thinking about the problem.
It’s Working folks, Honest people turning in the Fraudsters helps reduce costs
and Save the funds for those that Truly need it.
Public Service Announcement
Report Fraud in Maine
Allegations of fraud or attempted fraud involving funds, including Food Stamps,
administered by the Department of Health and Human Services should be sent to:
Fraud, Investigation and Recovery
11 State House Station
Whitten Road
Augusta, Maine 04333-0011
Phone numbers for DHHS Fraud office are:
1-207-287-2409 and 1-800-442-6003
Further questions and suspicions can also be submitted by e-mail.
Fraud.Dhhs@maine.gov
For Additional Fraud, Attempted or Suspected,
Contact the Office of the Attorney General
Phone: 207-626-8800
Mailing Address:
Office of the Attorney General
6 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333
http://www.maine.gov/ag/contact.html
Do All three, Phone, E-mail and send a Letter.
Follow-up in 30 days with a Certified letter if no response.
Send a letter Directly to the Governor’s Office, that should get their attention.
Keep a written log of actions and attempts to notify.
Hold them Responsible!
Classic stall tactic. There are two amendments: one from a republican and one from a democrat, of course the democrat’s won’t even be considered.
Which is expected, that’s what happens. BUT, I wouldn’t be surprised if the governor’s office had something to do with the other amendment, and my reasoning is quite simply, he (the governor) wants to continue to lobby the republicans in the legislature to not pass the bill. Senator Thomas knows two thing: One, there is going to be a leadership position opening up for the republican senate members and Two: he’s has supported Le Page.
Now, Senator Thomas needs to consider if it is in his best interest, politically, to continue to stall a bi-partisan budget? The republicans just lost a traditionally republican senate seat in a special election, he needs, in my opinion, to show bi-partisanship and not ambition and alliance.