Maine Medicaid advocates sued Mr. LePage’s administration in April after it missed a deadline to submit an expansion plan to the federal government. Mr. LePage said the state does not have the money to fund the program.
The judge ordered the administration to submit a plan by June 11 updating the terms of its Medicaid program, which was supposed to offer coverage to new enrollees July 2.
“The governor cannot ignore the law,” said Robyn Merrill, executive director of Maine Equal Justice Partners, according to The New York Times. “Maine voters did not make a request at the ballot, they passed a law, and laws are not optional. Today’s ruling is good news for more than 70,000 Mainers who the law says can sign up for health care on July 2.”
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