Free Republic

Fraud and Abuse Prevention team aims to stop welfare abuse Augusta, Maine – Governor Paul LePage and Attorney General William J. Schneider announced today that officials from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Office of the Attorney General are intensifying their focus on preventing and prosecuting fraud and abuse in public assistance programs. Recently, the Fraud and Abuse Prevention Team was formed to analyze current systems and existing resources available within state government to deter fraud before it happens and to assure that all illegal activities within Medicaid, Food Supplement, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families...

An update on the health care debacle in America. As I mentioned before, America already does have universal health care in states such as Massachusetts, California and Maine and that just like its overseas counterparts, was a failure. Another example of this failure was brought to my attention recently. A friend of mine from Portland Maine told me of how a homeless man with Maine care was denied payment of medical bills. Turns out this was because the bills were made very early on. Matter of fact he did not know he had those bills until recently. They were supposed...

Cost-cutting puts pressure on some CEO salaries, but packages can top $1 million With Maine’s economy spiraling downward and unemployment spiraling up, even hospitals — typically the cornerstones of employment security — are feeling the pain. In response to declining revenues, hospitals large and small have announced cost-trimming measures ranging from canceling magazine subscriptions and curtailing travel expenses to eliminating nonessential health services and even laying off staff. In this atmosphere, the issue of executive compensation can be a touchy one, especially considering that all but one of Maine’s hospitals are nonprofit institutions, accountable to the communities they serve and...

AUGUSTA -- A proposal to use state funds to pay for the abortions of poor women was shelved by a legislative committee. Members of the Health and Human Services Committee voted unanimously against the measure after revisiting the proposal Friday. The bill was important to activists on both sides of the issue. Abortion-rights advocates said it addressed inequities in health care while social conservatives objected to using tax money for a procedure they oppose morally. Lawmakers, particularly supporters of the measure, cited the proposal's cost in a difficult fiscal climate as a factor in its demise. Opponents stressed the outcry...