Maine’s top court has denied a bid from Republican Gov. Paul LePage to delay implementing the Obamacare Medicaid expansion, the latest legal setback in the governor’s effort to stop expansion.
The ruling from the Maine Supreme Court Thursday paves the way for Maine to become the 30th state to expand Medicaid under the 2010 national health care law. LePage refused to expand Medicaid even though voters approved the expansion in a ballot measure last fall.
An advocacy group called Maine Equal Justice Partners sued the state in April to force LePage to implement the expansion. A lower state court ruled in June that LePage had to start implementing the expansion even as the legal fight over the expansion itself continues.
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LePage’s administration asked the state Supreme Court to delay implementation until the conclusion of the case.
But the Supreme Court voted 6-1 to deny the state’s appeal. It found that implementation of the expansion must be done “in accordance with the Maine Constitution,” which gives the state 90 days to implement a plan for installing a ballot decision.
It also found the state’s appeal to be premature.
There are 70,000 individuals in the state eligible for coverage under the expansion.
LePage has fought the expansion throughout his tenure, vetoing several expansion bills approved by the state legislature. He has said that the expansion would ruin the state’s finances.
