Maine can cut about 15,000 low-income residents from its Medicaid program, CMS told state officials, but the federal government protected another 21,000 from rollbacks sought by Gov. Paul LePage (R), according to a report in the Maine Sun Journal.
Facing a $20 million budget gap, Gov. LePage's administration had requested permission last year to lower the state's Medicaid income cutoff to the poverty line instead of 200 percent of poverty line, which would have potentially closed its deficit, according to the report.
The feds allowed Maine to shrink the cap down to 133 percent of the federal poverty line. Maine's Department of Health and Human Services estimated the move would save just $4 million — one-fifth of what the governor had hoped to cut from Medicaid spending, according to the report
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Facing a $20 million budget gap, Gov. LePage's administration had requested permission last year to lower the state's Medicaid income cutoff to the poverty line instead of 200 percent of poverty line, which would have potentially closed its deficit, according to the report.
The feds allowed Maine to shrink the cap down to 133 percent of the federal poverty line. Maine's Department of Health and Human Services estimated the move would save just $4 million — one-fifth of what the governor had hoped to cut from Medicaid spending, according to the report
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