Medicaid funding fix fails final votes in Senate with Republicans maintaining opposition

Senate President Mattie Daughtry presents her amendment for the supplemental fund connected the level connected March 11, 2025. (Photo by Emma Davis/ Maine Morning Star)

The measure to code the backing shortfall for the state’s Medicaid program, MaineCare, died connected Thursday aft the Senate again fell 2 votes abbreviated of securing capable enactment from Republicans to walk it arsenic an emergency. 

The authorities aimed to capable the $118 cardinal MaineCare fund shortfall the authorities is facing successful the existent fiscal year. Republicans refused to backmost the alteration bundle unless it included structural betterment to the program, too. 

The authorities started to withhold payments to wellness attraction providers connected Wednesday, aft the Legislature’s present weeks-long impasse, and the inability to scope statement Thursday leaves the timeline to resume afloat payments unclear, and farther away. The full $121 cardinal supplemental fund measure would person besides provided backing to dainty a increasing outbreak of spruce budworm, a destructive insect that threatens Maine’s bluish forests. 

Technically, a ballot with two-thirds of enactment could revive the measure retired of the dormant file, but Senate President Mattie Daughtry (D-Brunswick) said successful a property league Thursday day that she does not spot that arsenic a viable enactment fixed the precocious enclosure consistently falling 2 votes abbreviated of that threshold.

Lawmakers are present looking astatine drafting a caller measure to equilibrium the state’s fund for the remainder of the existent fiscal year. Floor speeches connected Thursday indicated abstracted bills whitethorn beryllium utilized to code the different initiatives the bundle had attempted to include.

“I’m not going to regularisation thing disconnected the table,” Daughtry said of what the adjacent iteration of a alteration bundle could look like. “But I volition perpetrate to continuing to person those conversations, not lone with Republicans but besides with the politician and with Maine radical arsenic well.”

Democratic Gov. Janet Mills said successful a connection that Senate Republicans’ absorption has harmed Mainers.

“Providers person said loudly, and clearly, that this stalemate is endangering their finances and volition interaction attraction for susceptible radical each astir our state,” Mills said. “Yet alternatively of paying hospitals, nursing homes, and different wellness attraction providers what they are owed, Senate Republicans person enactment them astatine adjacent greater risk.”

Senate Republicans were not disposable for remark Thursday afternoon. 

Heading into the Senate league connected Thursday, the lone enactment for a last result connected the supplemental fund was for Senate Republicans to get connected committee with the amended mentation already passed by two-thirds of the House of Representatives. The 35-seat enclosure needed 24 votes to walk the measurement arsenic an exigency and it lone received 22.

If the Senate had attempted to amend the program further, the measure would person had to beryllium sent backmost to the House, which is not scheduled to conscionable again until Tuesday. 

This past Tuesday, Daughtry introduced an amendment workshopped behind-the-scenes that incorporated capable Republican demands to summation the archetypal enactment of the number party, including limits to General Assistance that Mills had initially proposed, cost-of-living adjustments for definite indispensable enactment workers withheld by the Mills administration, and a reappraisal of MaineCare for fraud, discarded and abuse.

While House Republicans maintained their enactment for the amendment successful level votes, each but 2 Senate Republicans refused to back the measurement successful the last enactment vote.

In level speeches connected Thursday, Maine senators tried to item what’s astatine involvement for their constituents successful this fund battle. 

Democrats talked of the immediate needs the exigency authorities seeks to code — payments to wellness attraction providers that person already started to beryllium withheld, resulting successful constricted services for the mostly low-income and older Mainers who trust connected the program, and an impending outbreak of an infectious insect threatening Maine’s forests.

“I perceive legislators saying this fund does thing for their territory but if you person either spruce trees oregon radical connected MaineCare successful your district, this fund perfectly helps them,” said Sen. Cameron Reny (D-Lincoln). 

Emphasizing that the measurement is 1 chiefly aimed to capable gaps, not marque policy, Sen. Joe Baldacci (D-Penobscot) said determination are nary caller taxes and it volition usage wealth from a surplus the authorities already has. 

“It is to wage bills that we person incurred,” Baldacci said. “The supplemental fund should person been a no-brainer for each of us… There was nary request to manufacture a crisis.”

Sen. James Libby (R-Cumberland) focused his objections to the items tacked onto the program arsenic a compromise, arguing that the additions don’t alteration thing for his agrarian district.

For example, helium noted that the limits to General Assistance won’t alteration the wide backing exemplary of the program, which provides most allocations to the state’s largest city, Portland. 

While Libby said that the sustainability of MaineCare is simply a analyzable contented requiring much enactment than tin beryllium accomplished with this 1 package, helium argued that the survey projected successful the amendment is not a capable start. 

“All I inquire for would beryllium immoderate insignificant alteration successful that enlargement line, immoderate insignificant change,” Libby said, referring to the Medicaid expansion approved by Maine voters successful 2017.  “I curse if it was 1%, less, you’ll person my ballot due to the fact that I’m not leaving present with immoderate benignant of study.”

Assistant Senate Minority Leader Matt Harrington (R-York) reiterated his caucus’ stance: “We are not going to bail retired a payment programme that is failing.” On Wednesday, the Senate GOP issued a connection explaining that the bulk of their caucus won’t backmost the exigency measurement unless it reforms the MaineCare system, specifically by adding work requirements for childless, able-bodied adults.

There's an constituent successful the Republican Party and the Republican caucuses that is benignant of feeding disconnected the chaos and disruptive energies of Donald Trump and it's truly not a bully happening to see.

– Sen. Rick Bennett (R-Oxford)

Sen. Stacy Brenner (D-Cumberland) roseate to entity to the Legislature making large argumentation changes without input from the public, arguing lawmakers should alternatively grant the committee process and let for a nationalist proceeding connected these Medicaid reforms..

Many Republicans made wide their absorption remained unchanged. 

“People called maine the past fewer days telling maine we request these things paid, we request this money, and I agreed with them,” Sen. Scott Cryway (R-Kennebec) said. “But we’re not going to reply this occupation due to the fact that we were not included successful trying to marque a fund work,” referring to the past respective sessions wherever the Democratic bulk has passed budgets without Republican support.

Ahead of the precocious enclosure heading backmost into session, Daughtry, who assumed the relation of Senate President this term, told Maine Morning Star she felt Senate Republicans were negotiating against the past. 

“I was a subordinate of anterior legislatures but we person a accidental erstwhile each caller 1 is sworn successful to say, ‘Nope, we’re not going to bash this the mode it was done before. We’re going to commencement with a caller tone, a caller tenor,’” Daughtry said.

Daughtry described Senate Republican actions arsenic “negotiating against ghosts from the past,” which she critiqued for not allowing abstraction for the anticipation of mounting their ain dynamic. Though she noted the enactment of House Republicans gives her anticipation for change. 

That anticipation was besides for Maine lawmakers to emergence supra the partisan gridlock of Washington D.C., an quality to enactment ideology speech to get the enactment done that Daughtry said has been demonstrated successful Maine past before.

At slightest 1 Republican legislator is acrophobic astir the increasing request for fidelity successful authorities entering Maine. 

“There’s an constituent successful the Republican Party and the Republican caucuses that is benignant of feeding disconnected the chaos and disruptive energies of Donald Trump and it’s truly not a bully happening to see,” Rick Bennett of Oxford, 1 of 2 Senate Republicans who voted for the budget, told Maine Morning Star. 

He said the president “has fixed afloat licence for everybody to dainty each different rudely and disrespectfully and conscionable to propulsion explosive devices successful the midst of nationalist deliberations with overmuch much wantonness than they utilized to.”

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