Paul LePage, Maine's new Republican governor, has submitted a supplemental budget to the Legislature that includes paying back nearly $250 million owed to hospitals for overdue Medicaid charges.
"It's purely a very fiscally responsible budget," LePage said during a Thursday press conference releasing the budget. "It addresses fiscal responsibility, saving jobs in healthcare and simplifying the tax codes."
Under the proposed budget, the state would provide $69.5 million which, combined with qualifying federal Medicaid dollars, would create a fund of $248 million earmarked for paying 36 hospitals for overdue Medicaid bills, some of which stretch back to 2006.
Yet even with that funding, the state will still owe hospitals another $150 million. Lepage said he hopes to account for the money still owed in the regular two-year state budget, set for release next month.
In addition to the Medicaid payback, the supplemental budget includes money for the Department of Health and Human Services to continue to fund Medicaid and $39.4 million to help pay for increased enrollment in the state's Medicaid program, called MaineCare.
An additional $32.4 million is proposed for MaineCare to help make up for additional federal Medicaid dollars the state received as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act economic stimulus program. Those additional payments are set to end on June 30, 2011.
State Senate Appropriations Committee member Dawn Hill (D-York) told the MaineToday news outlet that they are prepared to move quickly on the governor's supplemental budget, particularly with regard to its Medicaid recommendations.
"We stand to lose quite a bit in federal matching funds if we don't," she said. "Appropriations stands ready to roll up their sleeves and get going."