A Maine court ordered the state to implement voter-approved Medicaid expansion on Monday despite Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s objections.
The ruling by a state Superior Court judge compels the LePage administration to file paperwork to the federal government officially adopting the expansion. Medicaid expansion supporters sued the governor’s administration after it missed an April deadline to submit an expansion plan to the federal government.
LePage cited costs as the main reason for not implementing the expansion in a May press release. The medicaid expansion “would commit the state to spending tens of millions of dollars in appropriated money in the next fiscal year alone,” according to the press release.
Maine was the first state to pass Medicaid expansion through a ballot initiative in November. The expansion will cover at least 80,000 residents of the state. (RELATED: A Single Republican Paves Way For Virginia Medicaid Expansion)
LePage’s office did not respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment on the ruling.
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