AUGUSTA, Maine — After weeks of intensive review of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Medicaid payment records, the agency is projecting a budget year 2013 shortfall of $82.5 million, down from the original $89 million.
“It certainly is good news,” said Sen. Richard Rosen, R-Bucksport, co-chairman of the Appropriations Committee. “I know that some on the committee were hoping the numbers would be better, but it is a decrease.”
The Medicaid eligibility computer system was not communicating properly with the bill-paying system for most of this budget year. DHHS identified 24,500 individuals who were ineligible for Medicaid but were listed as eligible in the system.
DHHS found that 7,000 of those individuals used their cards when they no longer were eligible, which precipitated $6.8 million in improper payments of state funds and $3.7 million in improper payments with federal funds.
The shortfall reprojection takes into account the paying of those improper payments and the payback to the federal government.
“It is a number that is based upon the data that we have available today,” said DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew. “I am optimistic, given what I have seen over the last several months, about this number. It’s a budget, but we have to be mindful that this is an entitlement program and demand for services change.”
She said the amount of analysis her agency has done, backed by state Office of Information Technology staff and the state controller’s staff, has been “incredible.” She said DHHS has a much better understanding of the Medicaid program and all of its parts than it did before all of the studies were completed.
Democrats on the Appropriations Committee are seeking further review of the numbers.
“I will rely heavily on the Office of Fiscal and Program Review to do a thorough review of what we have received and report back to us. Then I will be willing to go forward using the numbers,” said Sen. Dawn Hill of Cape Neddick, the only Democratic senator on the Appropriations Committee.
Hill said there have been so many problems with DHHS’ projections that Democrats want the security of an independent review before accepting them. She expects it will be done before the panel negotiates a 2013 supplemental budget.
Finance Commissioner Sawin Millett said he is convinced the DHHS projection is as close as can be made when dealing with an entitlement program that has to pay benefits to anyone who qualifies. He said the payments made in error and the federal share of those payments will be paid by the state.
“These payments were made to providers that checked and the person’s card was valid, even though they were not eligible for benefits,” Mayhew added.
Rosen said the committee will start its work on the 2013 supplemental budget after the revenue forecasting committee does its work at a special meeting Monday. The committee is expected to reproject revenues upward since Maine Revenue Services uncovered a mistake caused by human error in which more than $14 million was not booked properly in January.
“They projected revenues down after looking at numbers that we now know were wrong,” Rosen said. “They will adjust for that in their meeting.”
Mayhew said she is confident DHHS is taking the appropriate steps to make sure computer systems are working properly and providing accurate data for future projections. That could mean the need for additional staff to oversee the department’s data systems.
“I am not ready to say what I will propose,” said Jim Smith, the state’s chief information officer. “We may need people with different skill sets; we may need more people, but I am still developing that work plan.”
Mayhew said the process of developing a zero-based budget also will help ensure the numbers are based on actual costs. She said what is called the medical assistance program, or MAP account, spends $2.4 billion but shows very little detail about how the money is spent.
“We will get to a level of detail [we do not have now] that we need to explain what is happening in [various] programs,” she said. “It should make for better budgeting.”
Millett agrees. He said agencies already are working on the two-year budget that will be submitted to the new Legislature in January.
“Hill said there have been so many problems with DHHS’ projections that
Democrats want the security of an independent review before accepting
them.”
After 40 years of who cares, finally democrats appear to care. Welcome to the discussion.
Ahh Paul don’t be angry. We promised to get you some new toys tomorrow to play with and attack:)
I’m register as a democrate and I’m 100% against welfare for anyone who recieves it whose parents used them as a tax shelter until they became adults, those people can go back home and have their parents support them on all that money they got out of paying on taxes.
Anyone who can insure their adult children until they are 26 years old can go home and live off their parents. There should not be welfare for anyone under 27 years.
It’s my opinion if the tax break people get for having kids is taken away and given to those who have not had and do not have kids, there will be no DHHS money problems, “no hungry or homeless” kids and a big reduction of government employees.
And because people are always looking to argue about things NOT mentioned in a post, my feelings do not apply to handicapped or elderly.
why not ? they dont contribute?
I’m guessing you never saw a pay check otherwise you would see the elderly did pay, it’s called S.S.I., medicare, State tax and Federal tax and least we forget sales tax, exercise tax. property tax and the library tax, and yes they still have to pay tax (geez I feel like the tax man in the Popeye movie, I’m waiting for a question tax next)
If you were handicapped and had been given a choice to be or not to be, what do you think you would choose?
Those whose career was welfare, they should be living off their children, as I’m sure they taught them about working.
Don’t forget Maine Retirement System. We were happy to use that money I put in there and then not repay it, and then cut retirees benefits. Hopefully, we won’t be around long enough to be a problem to the Right. And, of course, they won’t age or lose a job or get sick.
My thoughts as well.
I’m not sure if it’s not taught in school or kids aren’t paying attention, but have to laugh, without humor, when they say “Why should we support old people, they should have saved their money better”. Without the older people working for 40-50 years or more, there would be no schools, roads and welfare to name a few things.
You know, people may actually read your comments more often if you offered a clear and factual presentation. Sort of like yesterday’s post of Baldacci not getting 66% of the vote during his first election, when he received 47% of the vote in a 4 way race.!!
The last governor alone, ordered more than a dozen departmental and complete agency audits combined; and that is DHHS alone. Making up facts, once again, regarding an executive that isn’t even relevant any longer.
LePage can’t even be honest with the legislature, or even his own party: Richard Rosen stated “They projected revenues down after looking at numbers we now know are wrong…They will adjust for that in their meeting” How does any past administration have anything to do with them not being able to properly account for their revenues and expenditures?
I’m just so sick of you blaming everybody but your own inept LePage administration. You provide false, incorrect information all of the time, and say nothing about the current proposals or policies.
You failed to mention the other Baldacci election, what was that one, around 35 %.
I also believe that most of those “audits” were in house, done by in dept. employee’s and DHHS middle management,”making up facts” funny you brought that up. I wonder how much involvement these same people have in the gathering of information,compiling stat’s and figures, leg work stuff for budget preparation. It seems it would be pretty easy for one of these folks, if they might possibly not agree with the Governors policies and vision, to maybe file information that might be helpful to Mayhew, maybe moved it to the middle of the pile and just got busy with something else. I mean they new this problem of unqualified folks receiving benefits was an ongoing problem, happened every year for several years, you think this would be something that they checked on, maybe kept tabs of, but now they ,and our Liberal Lawmakers make it to be a total surprise, something out the ordinary. Makes you wonder if maybe some of these folks might not be all that helpful , some might be actively working against Our Governor, you think?
It’s fun to blame everything on the Governor you hate, I understand, but you have to consider what kind of culture is intrenched in DHHS,discounting the potential for malfeasance is silly.
While we are spit-balling idea’s here, I wonder if it’s possible that the Gov. let slip something he knows and that is being looked into, who knows, right?
It’s fun having these little chat’s with you, bouncing idea’s around.
As long as we are being personal, I feel the same way about you Rus. I’m sick of you blaming LePage for all that is wrong with Maine when he and the republicans have had but a year to sort through the mess the democrats have made.
The clean up will take a while, it took 40 years to get here and 15 months is not enough to fix everything. With a balanced budget how do you get a budget shortfall????? The state allocates X $’s and the department spends it on the items they submitted in their budget, how do you project a short fall a year ahead. What they are saying is we gave you a budget for next year we know is not enough for the programs we have. DHHS also knows that the money they are short will be covered by a supplemental budget later. Easy fix…. When the money is gone the money is gone and people need to find another source of support. Sounds harsh, maybe but there are plenty of jobs for people if they want too and I would be willing to help them get to a living wage rather than provide the total.
Yeah, Jock McKernnan really screwed things up in his 8 years of office – same for King and Longley.
Tea Party history revision fail.
Yessah
What your saying is in essence and tantamount to like Obama trying to clean up the Bush, Cheney mess and that only took 8 years.
with a balanced budget how do you get a shortfall? Easy, you hire Mary Mayhew to do the math.
John Baldacci did it for 8 years and Angus King did it for 8 years before that.
It’s the blind leading the blind !!!!! There is a shortfall of $82.5 million, down from the original $89 million. “It certainly is good news,” said Sen. Richard Rosen, R-Bucksport, co-chairman of the Appropriations Committee and member of ALEC . “I know that some on the committee were hoping the numbers would be better, but it is a decrease.” SUPER GOOD NEWS kids…..and don’t forget we have a surplus as well!!! happy day happy day….pffffffffffft.
Stay tuned, it will be a different number on Monday, and Sawin Millet will pipe up and say revenues are $20 million behind the proojected surplus. They keep the target moving so no one can hold them accountable. Vote them out in November-they are nothing but a bunch of carpetbaggers.
Mary Mayhew continues to disappoint us all. Time for her to go followed as closely as possible by the man that put her in this position and continues to pretend it wasn’t a mistake. Mr. LePage please take one step forward to accept your responsibility in this matter. Paul. Paul! Can anyone find Paul? Is he busy still talking to the press about mid-level union corruption in State government? Why doesn’t he just put his spiel against everyone not named LePage on a loop of audiotape and go on permanent vacation in Jamaica? Would we miss him?
She can’t go. She was Penguin’s 4th choice for the job. There’s nobody else in Maine that would take that job.
No let’s not forget the minority of the people that got LePage into office, there is still some gullible people out there that would take that job to work for LePage in a heart beat
NHap you are correct. The buffoon “Worst” Governor in the history of Maine politics could promote one of his golf caddies, they could use a better salary.
The best part of getting the job would be you need the following:
1. No experience in managing people.
2. have your picture taking so you will look like you are lost in the woods.
3. hate unions.
4. hates people that are able to think.
5. make up one yourself as none of these really matter, it just that if he like you.
Make Sense. Respectively submitted on Saturday. I think:)
I actually laughed pretty hard at number 2, if this list was in a particular order, I would move that to number 1. I think I have more requirements:
6. Tea Party Republican
7. Good at crying if you do not get your own way and shoot off at the mouth to the media
8. Fraud was your first word spoken when you learned to talk, although glitch, shortfall, computer, welfare and unemployment are acceptable alternatives
9. Must have already planned a vacation to take place in the next 2 months
10. You never take blame for anything, it is always somebody else’s fault.
Unless his daughter gets promoted, and hires Bruce Poliquin as the Maine Care director, THEN we would know where the money is going!
Betty LePage? Frank LePage? What, are we out of LePage’s? A son, a son, my kingdom for a son!!!
I think you are being way to hard on Ms Mayhew. I wonder if you could work under the conditions that she has to work under? First off she has to work directly under LePage and just that in itself has to be an almost impossible task. Secondly she was not prepared for this job by either experience or education. She actually took it as a favor to LePage when no one in their right mind would take it. Then along comes LePage with HIS fantasy DHHS budget. We all know that that was no where near what was actually needed. Then came the budget shortfall and trying to get the Appropriations Committee to come up with more funding. Of course we couldn’t let the Committee see the real numbers because we hadn’t made them up yet so she gets to go tell stories to the Appropriations Committee while LePage huffs and puffs and postures. Then when you find out you are paying for services for people who are not even eligible your boss won’t let you tell the Committee. LePage lies and she has to swear to it. Any decent person in Ms Mayhew’s job would have trouble sleeping at night give her a break.
4mermainer..a good and focused summary that takes us back to what in my mind was malfeasance by both Mayhew and the Governor in lying to the legislature to induce them to acceot other dramatic cuts in DHHS that were otherwise not palatable. Lying to the legislature on an active matter is an impeachable offence. I hope there will be a huge outcry demanding that.
This BDN article almost casts Mayhew as a hero and martyr in this with the tiniest offhanded mention that she lied to the legislature at the Governors orders.
This important truth we must not lose track of.
We must demand action on it.
You also seem sympathetic to Mayhew. We just overlook that she is the one who lied to the committee?
I think you may have misunderstood my post Lindsay. I am in no way sympathetic to Ms. Mayhew. As I have said numerous times on these boards I can not stand liars. As far as I am concerned lying is a form of dishonesty. I think Ms Mayhew has lied on several occasions therefore not only do I have no sympathy for her I have no respect either. Don’t look for truth and honesty in the LePage Administration you will never find it. I really believe that the Republicans will suffer a blood bath in the November election and come next January the LePage Administration will have to account for the many many untruths that they have told. Maine people are honest , hard working and caring people. We made a mistake in November of 2010 and we will correct it come November 6, 2012.
4mermainer..I am relieved!!! Thanks for your clarification.
I am hoping we can impeach Mayhew and LePage well before his term expires. This is the case that can bring us that impeachment.
I am very disapapointed that this article seems to be casting Mayhew as a hero or at least as a victim.
Any decent person in her shoes would resign rather than be unethical.
First thing she needs to do is find a hairdresser and get the red ends cut off please.
Don’t forget Poliquin!
Wow – first the shortfall was $30 million!!!! then $120 million!!!!!
Now it’s $89 million.
Tea Party government fail.
yup
You neglect to recognize the fact that for over the last 40 years the State has primarily been run (down) by the Democrats. The liberal’s last choice for Governor shares as much blame for the condition of our State as anyone.
every tea party member probably gets state benefits
You hit THAT nail square!That’s why they whine about the estate tax and means testing.
They’re grabbing every nickel they can before they finish looting the state and federal treasury.Meanwhile real Americans suffer.
Right-the Democrats put Maine way up here in the northeast corner of the US with lousy roads and crumbling infrastructure. Right, the Democrats made the corporate bosses decide that the needed to make more money so they took their jobs offshore so they could pay pennies on the dollar. Right, the Democrats are the ones who tried to roll back the school consolidation bill (and fought it tooth and nail in the first place) that would have save states and local taxpayers millions in costs generated by redundancies. Right, the Democrats are the ones fighting to bring back the robber-barons of the 19th century so that they can bring us the joy of working longer for less. Uh-huh.
What the Democrats have done; cultivated an environment within the State of Maine that you don’t need to work as the State will provide for you, they have created one of the largest per capita welfare states in our country. They have made sure that if any chance to reverse that trend is attempted, it is crushed as soon as possible to ensure that their core base of voters are secure. Under the Democrats the size of government has grown to a point of being so large it is completely ineffective.
Now Now, don’t b e made at Jock when he was Governor, he did his best, just didn’t know what he was doing so guess who he marries and he now is also wealthy – i think:)
yes, but LePage was going to fix it all. what happened? He’s a disgrace to our wonderful state
It takes more than a year and a half to fix 35 years of corruption. Violette and McCormick are gone. Now some of the lesser corruption is being tackled. hang in there, he’ll get it cleaned up if he continues on the present course.
LOL….more like tea party government cleaning up the King-Baldacci kindegarten economic escapade.
Progressive government fail.
Ayuh
And we have another conservative resorting to name calling and lies to in order to make his side look better. Grow up sonny.
I like how an issue that spans decades, and several administrations, is being blamed on a pseudo political party that has existed for only a couple of years.
But seriously, why stop there? Not only is it the fault of the Tea Party but it is also the fault of George Bush, Fox News, Ronald Reagan, the US Senate, the Heritage Foundation, the Koch Brothers, the Libertarian Party, Independents, and basically anybody who is not a Democrat as they are the only political group who believes wholeheartedly in Keynesian economics. While the Democrats are trying to make a Utopian society, they are only failing because of these wackos who believe in individual liberty, and personal responsibility.
I for one believe that the government should be all things to all people, they have shown time and time again that they can clearly be trusted with both our hard earned money and our personal liberties. Like CISPA!
CISPA is being criminally under reported.More snooping from the folks who love less govt. unless it’s in a woman’s uterus or cyber spying.Orwell would cry to be proven right.
And right, so your response, and that of the DO NOTHING, ACCOMPLISH NOTHING TeaPublicans, is to resort to more finger pointing, blaming, and name calling. Very mature of you.
Those “corrupt” state employees are at it again!
What would John Baldacci have done??? He would have taken from the DOT funds then asked the voters to fund the DOT with Bonds..
John didn’t do much bragging about the mess he left the State in.
Another blame Baldacci comment, what took you so long?
DOT is funded through funds that cannot be used for other purposes per the Maine constitution.
If Baldacci had ever done that Republicans would have sued him and won.
Obviously Mayhew is corrupt as well as incompetent, at least by the governor’s logic.
No, no , no–it was the middle level management of the state employee crew that were corrupt….Mayhew is okee-dokee.
Are you serious, have you not seen her pictures, from them they make her look like she is in the wrong business – I am just guessing:)
Actually , I believe it was those ” middle level management of the state employee”‘s who were a large part of this problem.
Go after the 7000 people who took money that did not belong to them, then fire Ms. Mayhew!
now only 82 million? try again, bet you get different numbers this time too… who’s doing this math??
Time for Mayhew to resign in disgrace
Out of this whole mess I have yet to see where anyone has taken the Fed’s DHHS folk’s up on their offer to help with the Maine’s DHHS computer system that was supposedly the reason why this whole mess began. An outside audit and evaluation would provide a much needed objective basis for cleaning up the whole mess. It would also provide a way for the 2 systems to talk to each other and prevent this type of mess from happening again. If LePage really wants to show some leadership then it’s high time that he came out of Blaine House and addressed this issue head on.
And since I don’t know doodly squat about Mayhew, if LePage won’t show leadership then it’s her responsibility to do so. Everyone is so scared of the ‘finger pointer’s’ that nothing’s getting done. Mary, quit being so loyal to Paulie that you can’t get what’s needed done simply because he can’t get his head ouuta his 4th point of contact ! By doing so, and I’m pretty sure I’m safe on this one, you are gonna get no arguement, and indeed may find a lot of support, from either side of the Legislature when you move toward a solution. You keep sitting their on LePage’s fence and you are all but asking for someone to go toss a baseball at you. So, what’s your next move, lead, follow or, as so many have regrettably done, get outta the way by quiting ? That, Ms Mayhew, is not a solution. It’s a surrender to the Chicken Little’s in Augusta. Maine needs, expect’s and deserve’s, better. Raise, call or fold.
things are bad enough on the state level and you suggest we call on the feds to “fix” things????? where do you think the problems started? we have way to much government on every level, and government gets worse as it gets further from the people.
an outside adit would show that the expensive programing that we already spent tons of money on is not doing the job as it was intended, and should be replaced with a new program that will cost tons more. and of course it will take a couple of years and there will be bugs and delays and unforseen problems and gritches that will add costs an further delays, etc. etc.
Mike I am sure you will hear from the radical right how the feds are incapable of fixing anything. However the real reason LePage will not call them in is that they might just uncover whatever it is he and his minions have been covering up.
No doubt as was so eloquently said by the previous responding post’r 4mermainer. Bud, if you ever took just 1 second to stop and stand back from the problem you might just see that the problem has gotten so bad that the only real possibility of figuring this moosehumping out is to have an outside audit done, free of any, and I mean ANY, outside influence and get what the GOP’rs call a ‘Best Practice’s’ perspective on this whole mess. Then at least we know how bad it is, where it’s screwed up beyond our ability ot fix, where we can fix it and what we need, as a State, to both fix it and to keep this from happening again. Don’t come out screaming about ‘cut welfare’ since all that is is some kind of ‘Chicken Little’ soundbite for the media. We get enough of that from the ALEC and MHPC folk’s and their script reader’s and writer’s.
Bud, you and the rest of Maine need real, in your face and in your hand’s, solution’s to get the State back to where it should be so it can function for everyone’s benefit, citizen’s and business alike. That is what governent’s primary business function is, to create the environment for business’s to start-up, develop and operate in a responsible manner, not go out and literally rape the community’s economic structure just so it can be ‘the biggest one on the block’. Given the recent meltdown one would realize that line of thinking, and financial operating, has now been seen for what it is. The Country’s economy is THE object lesson of that philosophy carried out to it’s current state, don’t you think ?
This Bond issue, while it sounds good, makes me very leery since it nowhere covers the currently outstanding bond’s status as far as their current interest payment schedule, their retirement date’s, any extension’s for whatever reason’s, and this one is the real grabber, any review of the bond’s marketability in the current bondmarket should the bond’s be re-sold or transfered to another bondholder, personal, corporate or institutional. A great many retirement fund’s are invested in State Bond’s, of all State’s, and their interest payment’s are an almost 1 for 1 match to these same retirement fund’s benefit’s schedule’s. Maine could very well find itself overextended in the Bond market’s if this annual ‘Easter Egg Hunt’ of Bond’s keep’s going on much longer. Maine needs to invest it’s current bond money in infrastructure to get the State in shape for the bsiness community to come in and operate safely and efficiently, and to get the current bond’s Maine has out there completely retired before anymore Bond’s are put out. Then at least we can re-start the process on an even keel and not have to go trying to keep the rubber horse in the pool’s 4th leg under while we struggle with the other 3.
Reading these comments makes me wonder why anyone in their right mind would be involved in politics.
Makes me wonder why no one in their right mind appears to be in charge in Maine these days.
A couple of questions about these figures:
1. The average cost of each overpayment is $1,500, which is higher than the previous average of $1,173. Why?
2. It is my understanding that the federal government pays 2/3 of the Medicaid costs. So, why is the state portion greater than the federal portion?
Fire Mayhew and LePage and make them pay this out of their pockets!
The dedicated, hard working public “servants” who flushed $80,000,000 down a rat hole for the non working DHHS computer system should be the ones who have to pay for their incompetence. They were probably promoted under the Bladacci regime though.
What corporation/company in the privite sector would allow such complete incompetance plus allow those who are the fumblers to remain employed. This is the party which wants to privitize all of government? I’d say the writing is on the wall and this crew is completely off the wall.
to which “party” are you refering to bart? the repubs just got control after years of dems. who do you blame at this point? the dems who created the system or the repubs for showing the problems in that system?
It’s the captain who is responsable, whether the helmsman turns in time or not before the ship strikes the iceberg. In this case I have no doubt that life boats have been deployed and sunk, except the one with the captain and crew in it. Those in the water still afloat who try to grab the gunnel of the captian’s dingy, will the be cracked on the head with an oar and sent to Davey Jones’ locker in an act of conservitive compassion.
The “party” is on the nearest island, bring your own rum.
lepage has been saying all along there is some big problems with our welfare system…we cannot afford our welfare system anymore…time to stop pointing fingers and deal with reality..
so what has the Gov done to fix welfare? Apparently he has all the answers, is all knowing.
So what is happening to all these people who were not not eligible for benefits? I have not heard any clear answer to that. These people use the system, they know when they are not eligible, these people know exactly what their doing. So DHHS go collect our money! and if we have a shortfall of 82 million……guess we have to cut 82 million. How about starting with no state aid if you have someone working in the house….and know entitlements of cable, cell phones, new cars…and free food. I am sure we all know people who do this. DHHS just turns the other cheek and does nothing to these people. DHHS is the problem.
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” cable and cell phones are not entitlements” ??? what are you saying Morgonen? that these are not supplied by the state ? or are they necessary and needed?
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I hope you are not suggesting that we should be paying for cell phones or land lines for those who are on welfare…or who participate in any other entitlement program. I have to work to pay for mine!!!
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You misunderstand me. I am not envious. I came from a family whose father went through the tail end of the depression and who would never dream of accepting public assistance. He taught us to earn what we have…not take it from others. Not only do I have to work for mine…I would not have it any other way.
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do you enjoy paying for it? What about for those who think they are too good to flip burgers or volunteer?
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Many folks getting state assistance are working and need to have a phone to get or keep a job.
I’m not buying it. There may be some jobs that actually require a phone but I don’t personally know anyone who this is true for. And, if a job requires you to have a phone, the employer should provide it… our tax dollars should not!
I am assuming you work, at least part-time….The last time you were sick, did you call your employer to let them know you would not be in to work that day, or did you simply wait to tell them the next time you went to work why you were not at work the previous day(s)? A phone is a necessity to keeping a job. And welfare is not directly paying for the phone. The cost of a phone is included in necessary expenses, including heat and electricity, all of which are deductions to income to determine eligibility for various programs. If the assistance is for TANF, child care, or senior Medicare reimbursement of Part A or B premiums, than the cash amount of assistance is put each month onto the EBT card, which can be used at a store or an ATM to withdraw the cash, which is then used to personally pay the phone, heat, and light bills. If the people waiting at DHHS offices are talking on smart cell phones, then they either acquired the phone before they needed assistance or are using a cell phone in place of a landline. There isn’t enough assistance to pay for both a smart cell phone plan and a landline. Some people talking on cell phones are using prepaid cell phones like TracPhone, which costs money only as uou use the phone. As for laptops in use in the DHHS waiting rooms, the laptop was probably acquired before they needed assistance, such as before getting laid off from their jobs.
or to keep track of carting their kids here, there and everywhere. not only do the kids have a stay at home mom, they have a cab service
you are already paying for the safe link phones they have. watch the commercials
Are you crazy? Since when did cable become necessary for survival? There IS a sense of entitlement to some recipients of welfare. People who need assistance should, of course, receive help. However, if you can afford cable, cell phones, flat screen TV’s, iPods, and computers you shouldn’t have an EBT program. It is the abuse of the system that sets so many people, including myself, off.
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Agreed, some of the clients at Bangor DHHS sit in the waiting room and use their laptops while they are waiting. life is so hard for some people
spend some time in front of the Bangor DHHS office. you will see some pretty impressive cars and trucks driven by the clientele. people can live without cable and cell phones, if they are on welfare maybe they should be looking for work instead of lying around on the couch changing channels everyday all day.
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the rules are people on welfare can spent their money as they choose. This is not fraud. I for one say the state should stop providing the safe link phones. AZ doesn’t do it
Rosen says a shortfall of $82.5 million is “good news”!!! That’s our tax money(federal and state) that he is talking about. This is what happens when you give people “something for nothing”, with no strings attached. The “do gooder”, “give-away” mentality in Augusta has created a vast group of people who are now being supported by the State and who feel the State of Maine will take care of them forever. It appears there is NO MONEY for MaineCare, so I say SHUT IT DOWN!
I think it was US Senator Everett Dirksen who said, “A million here, a million there. Pretty soon it’s real money.” The juggling act the agency has been doing for months now is only the beginning of their fiscal woes. The reality is that the legislature has abjectly failed to hold them accountable for any of the actions for a long time in a dynamic that began well in advance of the LePage administration. However, the failure of the agency’s senior management to address the lack of accountability that has plagued the agency internally will have serious implications for taxpayers. No one seems to be focused at all on the actions of the child welfare functions and how their poor decision making impacts spending both short and long term. Two out of three children who enter foster care in Maine never leave and the cost estimates associated w/ that shocking statistic are passed along, not only to the DHHS bottom line but also to mental health, housing and other agencies. Finally, who is looking at their legal bills to defend entirely preventable litigation that could either have been avoided by good decision making or settlement discussions. This agency is a mess. But the blame for that mess should be laid at everyone’s feet, not just the Governor’s.
the sad part is that your observations are not limited to this department/agency, or level of government. the further from the people the worse the system gets.
whatever happened to “The buck stops here”? meaning it stops at the top?
Next week it will be up 92.5 million. Ihope I don’t lose my food stams, cuz the church won’t help me no more.
If a law must be obeyed , it is necessary that it be known about. (promulgated). The DHHS should haveinformed all providers AND card holders that this service should not be paid for. This requires another step by clerical workers to correspond or email.
it used to be people on Maine Care got an eligibility card every month. no card, no service. has the process changed from when a card was issued monthly?
yes
Pot-kettle, jtc. You provide no substance, detail, or facts, nor does LePage to support his assertions that “everybody else” has been doing it wrong and is corrupt. There’s going to be a lot of “Rs” missing in the legislature after November if this stupidity and blame gaming keeps up.
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It’s quite obvious that the employees of DHHS …. do not have the skill set to do their jobs! It’s time to put written documentation in personnel files and put employees in performance improvement plans to clean house. This state has hundreds of unedmployed qualified college grads that would be thrilled to start at the bottom of the pay grade.
Evertime Mayhew has something to sday it costs the taxpayers a minimumof 1 million dollars.
We’re not 89 million; we’re only 82 million—–AND THAT,S GOOD !!!! Only the govt. would think like that. I can’t believe that was a Republican who said that.
wake up, they’re pretty stupid
Come On NOVEMBER!!
Well, isn’t it comforting to know that Mayhew has “a much better understanding of the Medicaid program”. I don’t know why this nitwit continues to have her job. She’s been a royal train wreck from the get-go. I voted for LePage and have been sorely disappointed by how he’s handled himself because he’s his own worst enemy.
dhhs shortfall now projected at 600 billion dollars! next week it will be projected at 30 billion dollars!
Sounds like the head of DHHS and the Govenor do not know what they are doing.
Oh,a shortfall of only $82.5 million, down from the original $89 million, well I guess everything is just fine then.
Time to send some DHHS workers on a Vegas getaway for some much needed Tax Payer funded RnR I guess. PARTY!!!!!
Thats like saying it is better to be shot in the face with buckshot instead of 00Buck shot.Unbelievable.
How did DHHS ever manage to pay recipients before there were computers? Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t LePage let a bunch of seasoned, experienced people in DHHS go, soon after he took office?
Then he hires Ms Mayhew who knew nothing about DHHS to lead it. Makes sense to me!!
Yup. Lepage and his minions fired a bunch of knowledgeable people then a whole lot more left when he began demonizing state employees and made retirement changes that would cost some of them a lot if they didn’t leave before they took effect.
I’ve been watching the pages that list open state jobs for the past 18 months and the number of openings in financial jobs and information technology is unprecedented.
Competent people who have any other option do not want to work for an arrogant ignorant bully who calls them names and undercuts their work.
Would those be the knowledgeable, competent people who flushed $80,000,000 down a rat hole for a computer system that NEVER worked under the failed Baldacci regime. The ones who then spent an additional $40,000,000 on a system that barely works. Those knowledgeable, competent people?
It is true re the institutional memory being gone in much of DHHS. In terms of IT, you have some people cozying up to Mayhew and Lepage that have zero real expertise. Scary.
“How did DHHS ever manage to pay recipients before there were computers?”
Well, it appears that those “seasoned, experienced” people were largely responsible for the overpayments to unqualified people. The workers who processed the claims probably were aware of the shortcomings and did their best to work around them. I wouldn’t be surprised if their complaints fell on deaf middle management ears, considering the nature of bureaucracies.
Of course, previous governors who enabled the implementation of the flawed software and the software “experts” who installed systems that couldn’t communicate with one another bear a large part of the responsibility.
I give credit to the LePage administration for recognizing the problem and working diligently to fix it.
You give credit to the LePage administration for recognizing the problem and working diligently to fix it….like name-calling all state employees in one form or another, and then expecting them to brighten up and also work diligently? Reminds me of a sign I have which says, “Employees will be beaten until morale improves.” (which appears to be LePage’s style of management….)
Gee Mary now all you have to do is work an additional 427 years, not the original 453 years as we all once thought, to make up for this unfair attack on you. Phew!
I wonder how much of that “incredibale” analysis was done by DHHS middle managers who supposedly don’t do a lick of work for their inflated paychecks, and are therefore “corrupt”? Or are DHHS middle managers who worked on the analysis exempted from the governor’s comment?
It’s comforting to see that Reagan’s “Voodoo calculator” lives on.