Category Archives: health policy

Mainers hit with Obamacare penalty granted more time to get insured

Maine residents facing tax penalties for going without health insurance now have an extra opportunity to avoid getting fined next tax season. The federal government announced Friday a special sign-up period for individuals and families who lacked coverage in 2014 and didn’t realize the Affordable Care Act requires all Americans to have health insurance or pay […]

Maine bill would allow drug users’ friends to administer overdose antidote

A medication that halts an opiate overdose in its tracks is in the hands of many Maine first responders, thanks to legislation passed last year. Now, a Waterville lawmaker wants to expand access to the life-saving drug, called naloxone hydrochloride, even further. Naloxone — known under the brand name Narcan — is a prescription medication that blocks opioid receptors […]

Maine drops to 20th in healthiest state ranking

Maine fell from 16th to 20th in an annual national health ranking, dragged down by poverty and low vaccination rates among children, among other factors. The state’s finish marks its worst since the nonprofit United Health Foundation launched its “America’s Health Rankings” in 1990. Nearly 21 percent of Maine children live in poverty, a rate that remains largely unchanged […]

Are Maine’s Obamacare enrollment totals inflated too?

Obamacare took another gut punch today with news that its often touted enrollment totals erroneously included dental plans. This comes in the wake of more bad news for the health reform law, including a Supreme Court challenge that could undercut its critical insurance subsidies and contradictory comments made by Obamacare consultant and MIT economist Jonathan Gruber. Today’s news boils […]