L.D. 837 Testimony

TESTIMONY OF THE MAINE MEDICAL ASSOCIATION

IN SUPPORT OF

L.D. 837, AN ACT TO PROVIDE SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS AND ALLOCATIONS FOR THE OPERATIONS OF STATE GOVERNMENT

 

Joint Standing Committee on Appropriations & Financial Affairs
Room 228, State House, Augusta, Maine
Monday, April 9, 2018, 2:00 p.m.

Good afternoon Senator Hamper, Representative Gattine, and Members of the Joint Standing Committee on Appropriations & Financial Affairs.  My name is Andrew MacLean and I am Deputy EVP & General Counsel of the Maine Medical Association.  I am pleased to provide this testimony in support of L.D. 837 as a mechanism for funding the administrative costs of implementing Medicaid expansion in accordance with the ACA. 

The Maine Medical Association is a professional organization representing more than 4200 physicians, residents, and medical students in Maine whose mission is to support Maine physicians, advance the quality of medicine in Maine, and promote the health of all Maine citizens. 

MMA urges the 128th Maine Legislature to proceed with implementation of Medicaid expansion as directed by Maine voters last November.  Medicaid expansion in Maine is important to each individual Mainer who will gain coverage for his or her health care needs and to the financial health of each health care organization that provides services to Mainers.  Medicaid expansion will be a vital part of the State’s response to the opioid abuse crisis and will be especially important to support health care in rural Maine.

MMA has spoken in favor of ACA Medicaid expansion before the Maine legislature, to the press, and in various public forums many times since passage of the ACA and we reiterate that support today. 

I have attached for your reference, the following documents relevant to your discussion of this bill.

  • Testimony of Amy Madden, M.D. in support of L.D. 1066, An Act to Increase Access to Health Coverage and Qualify Maine for Federal Funding (126th Maine Legislature) dated April 2, 2013;
  • Maine Medical Association Statement on Reform of the U.S. Health Care System dated January 18, 2017; and
  • American Medical Association House of Delegates Resolutions 290.965, Affordable Care Act Medicaid Expansion and 290.966, Medicaid Expansion Options and Alternatives;

Thank you for considering the MMA’s views on L.D. 837 and the effort to implement ACA Medicaid expansion in Maine.