Court orders Maine to implement Medicaid expansion

A Maine judge last week ordered the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to comply with a recent ballot measure expanding Medicaid eligibility to qualified low-income residents. The order directs the commissioner to adopt rules and a state plan amendment to implement the measure retroactive to July 2, and to inform the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that no impediment prevents the state from using existing appropriations to implement the expansion. The Maine Hospital Association supported the ballot measure.