Last year, Maine became the first state to expand Medicaid by ballot initiative, following Gov. Paul LePage's multiple vetos of the legislature's efforts to accept the Affordable Care Act's expansion. LePage, however, won't give up and is rejecting the will of 60 percent of Maine's voters.
“That we have had to fight this battle time and again is discouraging,” said Andi Parkinson, an organizer with the nonprofit Kennebec Valley Organization. […]
LePage, now in his last year in office, has insisted he won’t green-light expansion, which is expected to cover 80,000 low-income Maine adults, unless state lawmakers meet his conditions for funding the program that he contends could otherwise bankrupt the state. As chances of a deal with LePage dwindle, the organizers of the Maine ballot initiative are now preparing for a legal showdown to enforce voters’ wishes.
“The law is clear,” said Robyn Merrill of Maine Equal Justice Partners, an advocacy group that spearheaded the Medicaid expansion referendum. “People will have a right [to coverage] and we will represent them in court.“
Individuals are supposed to become eligible for Medicaid coverage on July 2, according to the Maine ballot measure. The legislative stalemate leaves few options other than litigation to force LePage’s hand. Ultimately, the issue may not be resolved until after Maine elects its next governor in the fall.
LePage is ignoring the deadlines established for the state in the ballot initiative, already having missed the deadline for filing the paperwork with the Trump administration that it was going to expand. The legislature has finished business for the year, aside from this stand-off with LePage, so they have had to keep the session open. Maine's House Republicans are in the minority in that body, but nonetheless are helping LePage, with House Minority Leader Ken Fredette—running to be the next LePage when he's term limited out after this year—resisting efforts by the body's Democrats to get a funding deal. The state's Senate Republicans, however, are in favor of the expansion.
Given that just last fall, 60 percent of Maine voters told their leaders want this expansion, it seems like a losing proposition for a Republican candidate for governor to base his campaign on continuing LePage's obstruction. But they've all got a primary to get through. Seems like lots of legislative seats—as well as the executive—will be ripe for a flip this fall.