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canada goose coats on sale AUGUSTA Maine highest court canadian goose jacket will hear arguments Wednesday over the LePage administration refusal to begin offering Medicaid coverage to tens of thousands of canada goose outlet additional adults. canada goose coats on sale
Meanwhile, lawmakers and a representative for Maine hospitals say they have yet to see a formal plan from Gov. Paul LePage office detailing his 3 week old proposal he made last month to pay for Medicaid expansion by increasing taxes on hospitals. LePage wants Maine to follow the lead of eight other states that have used uk canada goose outlet hospital taxes cheap canada goose uk or provider fees to cover their share of Medicaid expansion costs with the expectation that Canada Goose Online hospitals will Canada Goose Outlet provide canada goose uk black friday less uncompensated care if more people have health coverage.
Canada Goose Jackets But it unclear how hard Maine Republican governor a staunch opponent of Medicaid expansion who recently vetoed an initial funding bill plans to push for the hospital tax, after getting a chilly initial reception from Democratic leaders. Canada Goose Jackets
canada goose he has a serious proposal to present, he can submit a bill, said Mary Erin Casale, spokeswoman for House Speaker Sara Gideon, D Freeport. is the way things move forward in the Legislature. the latest legal wrangling over the voter approved law, the LePage administration will plead its case for why it should be not required to file an expansion plan with federal Canada Goose Coats On Sale officials because canada goose factory sale the Legislature has not appropriated money to cover the additional costs. Attorneys for Maine Equal Justice Partners, on the other hand, are expected to argue that LePage is obligated to follow the law passed by voters in November 2017 to expand Medicaid to an estimated 70,000 lower income Mainers. canada goose
Canada Goose Outlet Last month, a Kennebec County Superior Court judge ordered the LePage administration to file a Medicaid expansion implementation plan to federal regulators by June 11. LePage floating idea of buy canada goose jacket new hospital tax to fund Medicaid expansion Canada Goose Outlet
Canada Goose sale The court is canada goose store likely Canada Goose sale to hear dueling arguments during Wednesday hearing about the issue of funding Medicaid expansion. Canada Goose sale
Canada Goose online LePage has argued since the November 2017 referendum that he would not expand Medicaid to cover individuals earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty Canada Goose online level until the Legislature funds it. Last month, the Legislature approved a bill earmarking $60 million in initial funding for the expansion only to have LePage veto the measure and House Republicans join with the governor to block supporters from overriding that veto. Canada Goose online
canada goose clearance sale think the Legislature has spoken: they did not fund it, LePage said last week during a radio interview. they not going to canada goose uk outlet do it right, it just not going to happen. The one thing I know is nobody canada goose can force me to put the state in red ink and I will not do that. I will go to jail before I put the state in red ink. And if the court tells me I have to do it, then we going to be going to jail. BASICALLY JUST AN IDEA advocates counter that the only reason the Legislature hasn been able to fund expansion is because LePage vetoed the bill. LePage also has yet to formally flesh out his proposed Canada Goose Jackets hospital tax funding mechanism a proposal offered at a time of pitched, behind the scenes negotiations canada goose clearance sale on a host buy canada goose jacket cheap of canada goose coats on sale unresolved issues including Medicaid expansion, Clean Election Act funding, a bond package and a conformity package important to the governor. canada goose clearance sale
canada goose store haven seen any paperwork, said Jeff Austin, vice president with the Maine Hospital Association, which is opposed to any tax increase. think it basically just an idea. Maine currently taxes hospitals at 2.23 percent collecting $103 million in 2016 and the LePage administration argues that Canada Goose Parka increasing that rate would provide more than enough money to cover Medicaid expansion costs. canada goose store
Canada Goose Parka Maine hospitals stand to benefit the most uk canada goose from the expansion of Medicaid, this is a more than reasonable means of financing that program expansion costs, the governor office said in a statement. tax is assessed on each hospital based on the revenue generated from the services they provide. The governor believes that Medicaid expansion will decrease both the amount of charity care and bad debt carried on hospitals books, and that will offset the increase in the hospital tax to pay for Medicaid expansion. During the congressional negotiations over the Affordable Care Act, hospital associations agreed to accept smaller annual adjustments to Medicare reimbursements in order to help cover the federal share of Medicaid expansion. Canada Goose Parka
buy canada goose jacket already gave, Austin said. can pick canadagooseoutlet4online up the whole thing for the state. HOSPITALS LOST MONEY IN 2016 buy canada goose jacket
buy canada goose jacket cheap LePage frequently points to the more than $800 million in construction underway or planned at Maine hospitals including Maine Medical Center $512 million expansion as evidence that hospitals are canada goose black friday sale doing well financially. Yet Austin pointed out that 19 of Maine 35 hospitals lost money in 2016 and that the two hospitals undertaking the vast majority of that construction Maine Med in Portland and Eastern Maine Medical Center in canada goose clearance Bangor were among the minority operating in the black. buy canada goose jacket cheap
canada goose deals In fact, Austin added, those two hospitals were the only reason Maine hospital system reported positive revenue flow in 2016. If you remove Maine Med cheap Canada Goose and EMMC from the equation, the 33 other hospitals in Maine collectively lost $50 million that year. Doubling the hospital tax could tip some of those struggling hospitals over the edge, resulting in facility closures that would severely impact the surrounding communities, he said. canada goose deals
cheap Canada Goose not good to have half of the hospitals in the state losing money, Austin said. cheap Canada Goose
canada goose black friday sale LePage spokesman Peter Steele said Tuesday that the governor has yet to put together a formal proposal on the hospital tax. In television and radio interviews, LePage called the Legislature proposal to initially fund the expansion with $35 million in tobacco settlement funds and $25 million in surplus state revenues gimmick, and accused Gideon, the House speaker, of rejecting his hospital tax proposal. canada goose black friday sale
canada goose clearance Gideon office, however, said they have yet to see a formal proposal. canada goose clearance
canadian goose jacket governor office has the ability to submit a bill at any time when we are in session, said Casale, Gideon spokeswoman. the governor is interested in doing that, we are in session but we have yet canada goose uk shop to see that happen. Miller can canada goose coats be contacted at 791 6312 or at: canadian goose jacket.