Maine Supplemental Budget Update

Thanks to YOU, many harmful cuts were stopped!

Thanks to the many MAIN members who joined their voices with thousands of others coming together through MaineCanDoBetter.org to prevent many harmful cuts in the Governor's budget. Clearly, Maine lawmakers heard the message that these cuts were unacceptable. We delivered this message through emails, letters, phone calls, and/or by joining the 1000 Maine people who filled the halls of the State House on March 12th.

But, despite relief for some, the budget that passed did still include cuts that will harm people. All of us will continue to work together in the next weeks and months to ensure that any future budget shortfalls are addressed using a more balanced approach - one that doesn't rely solely on cuts that harm people and simply shift costs to more expensive and inefficient outcomes.

Here is a brief summary of the outcome of some of the issues that MAIN and Maine Equal Justice followed most closely:

Proposed cuts affecting the MaineCare "childless adult" program (the non-categoricals):

• The legislature rejected the proposal to cut access to health care for more than 8,500 low-income adults in this program. This means that when this new budget goes into effect on July 1, 2008, the program will reopen and accept new members from the waiting list. Anyone who wants to enroll in this program should sign up on the waiting list as soon as possible.
• The legislature rejected the proposal to eliminate coverage for prescription drugs for members of the "childless adult" program. Prescription drugs will continue to be available but there will be a greater effort to require the use of generic drugs instead of brand names. However, brand name drugs will still be available with prior authorization when medically necessary.
• The legislature rejected the proposal to require a $10 co-payment for doctor and hospital visits for members of the "childless adult" program.

Other proposed MaineCare cuts:

• The legislature rejected the proposal to eliminate podiatry services for all MaineCare members. However, beginning some time after July 1, 2008, MaineCare members may need prior authorization from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) before they can receive certain podiatry services.
• The legislature partially rejected the elimination of certain durable medical equipment and supplies. The Governor had proposed the elimination of certain specific items. This proposal was rejected, but the budget that passed did give DHHS the authority to put some limitations on some of these items or reduce the amount that MaineCare will pay for these services. These limitations cannot be imposed until DHHS goes through a rulemaking process where the public will have a chance to comment. MAIN and MEJP will advocate to prevent harmful changes if they are proposed through this process.
• The legislature accepted the proposal to require an annual $25 enrollment fee for parents with incomes above 150% of the poverty level ($26,200 for a family of 3). The $25 fee will apply to each parent in a two-parent family.

Proposals affecting families on TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families):

• The legislature rejected the proposal to eliminate General Assistance for TANF families. TANF families will continue to be eligible for general assistance when they need it.
• The legislature accepted the proposal to increase the TANF Housing Special Needs payment from $50 to $100 a month. This increase will be funded with federal TANF block grant dollars. This payment goes to families whose rent (or mortgage) exceeds 75% of their income. We expect that eligible families will begin to receive this additional payment in July or August of this year.
• The legislature accepted the proposal to provide a "transitional food benefit" to families leaving TANF for work. This means that families who leave TANF for work will receive up to an additional $100 a month in the first year they leave TANF, $75 in the second year, and $50 in the third year. The benefit will be placed as a credit on the families EBT card to be used to purchase anything that can be purchased with food stamps. By providing the benefit this way, it will not count as "income" for the federal food stamp program and, thus, will not cause a reduction in benefits in that program. This benefit will also be funded with federal TANF block grant dollars.

Proposed cuts affecting legal immigrants:

• The legislature rejected the proposal to eliminate state-funded SSI payments for 31 elderly or disabled legal immigrants and refugees. The Governor himself withdrew this proposal in his budget "change package". This means that state-funded SSI benefits will continue to be available to low-income legal immigrants and refugees who cannot receive federal SSI benefits.
• The legislature rejected the proposal to eliminate state-funded food stamp benefits for legal immigrants. Low-income legal immigrants will continue to be eligible for state-funded food stamps when they are not eligible for federal food stamp benefits.

Medicaid - Targeted Case Management Services:

The legislature accepted the proposed funding to limit the harm of federal Medicaid cuts in Targeted Case Management Services. The Governor proposed funds to help make up for the loss of federal Medicaid matching funds for this service. The budget included just over $6 million dollars to help agencies who will no longer qualify for federal targeted case management reimbursement. The funding will allow community programs, including Head Start agencies, organizations working with children in the child welfare system and organizations working with expectant and new mothers to continue to provide case management services. DHHS will work with all community organizations who have been providing targeted case management services to assess the impact of the new federal rules and determine if any funds are available to minimize their loss.

For information on other budget cuts not included here, check Maine Can Do Better for updates.

Posted April 4, 2008