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Maine Says It Will Save Millions Of Dollars Under Health Reform

In what could be a blow to ‘no’ votes Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, Maine has released a report showing that the health care law “will save the state tens of millions of dollars a year after it is fully implemented in 2014”:

“This is a far-reaching projection and it assumes what we know today,” Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Brenda Harvey said. “There are also some policy decisions that will need to be made that will impact these estimates.”

If the state adopts all of the changes assumed in the analysis, which was conducted by DHHS, the net savings to the state in 2014 is an estimated $31.8 million.

Contrary to the complains of many states, Maine — which has already expanded coverage for adults to at least 100 percent of the FPL prior to enactment of health reform — will receive transitional federal funding to help pay for some of the adults that it’s currently financing with state dollars.

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“Under the new law, the federal government will pay 98 percent of the cost,” the state notes. “Expanding Medicaid to cover all childless adults under the new federal health law increases the state’s match rate for those Mainers and would save the state over the current program that caps enrollment. The estimated savings in 2014 are $14.6 million.”

Maine will benefit more than other states from reform because it’s gone further in meeting the goals of the bill and expanding coverage to its residents, Snowe and Collins however, seem to have other priorities.