Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services is rejecting consumers’ applications to get health coverage under Medicaid expansion.
Robyn Merrill of Maine Equal Justice Partners says she has confirmed with an attorney for DHHS that the department is denying coverage.
“We think it’s clear that the Commissioner, this administration, is in violation of the law,” she says. “We are going to do everything we can to get health coverage to people sooner rather than later. And if that means having to file a second lawsuit based on the fact that people are now being denied coverage, that’s a step we’re ready to take.”
Maine voters approved Medicaid expansion in a referendum last November. Maine Equal Justice Partners is suing DHHS for failing to implement the law, which was supposed to take effect July 2.
As the state’s highest court considers the lawsuit, Maine Equal Justice Partners has encouraged people to apply for Medicaid coverage and appeal if they’re denied.
DHHS declined to comment due to the lawsuit.
