WATERVILLE — A bill sponsored by Democratic Rep. Flavia DeBrito of Waterville that would expand insurance and MaineCare coverage for a range of emergency and health care services has drawn strong support from service providers and others.
On Feb. 17, City Manager Nick Cloutier updated the City Council on DeBrito’s bill and another proposal that would expand emergency shelter funding through real estate transfer taxes.
DeBrito’s bill — “An Act to Expand Reimbursement for Treatment in Place, Community Paramedicine and Alternative Destination Transport” — was the subject of a public hearing Feb. 11 before the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services.
DeBrito represents District 64 (parts of Waterville and Winslow) in the Maine House of Representatives and Ward 2 on the Waterville City Council.
If adopted, the bill would expand insurance and MaineCare coverage to include on‑scene emergency treatment regardless of whether a patient is transported; care delivered through community paramedicine; and transportation to nonhospital sites, such as urgent care centers, primary care offices, behavioral health crisis centers, substance use treatment facilities and other appropriate locations.
The bill, which requires approval from the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management and Maine Emergency Medical Services, received support from the Maine Municipal Association; Legal Services for Maine Elders; the Maine Medical Association and Maine Osteopathic Association; Northern Light Health; Community Care Partnership of Maine in Bangor; the Maine Ambulance Association; United Ambulance Service in Lewiston; Spurwink; and fire and rescue departments in Sanford, Portland, Waterville, Westbrook, Windham and Winthrop.
The Maine Association of Health Plans opposes the bill, and its executive director, Dan Demeritt, testified that it is “overly broad, costly and not aligned with the ongoing and careful work already underway to improve access and coverage to medically necessary and fully licensed community paramedicine.”
Happy Haven, a Lewiston-based agency that supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, autism and brain injuries, also opposes the bill.
Cloutier told the Waterville City Council that some services provided at the scene are not reimbursed if a patient is not transported to a hospital, and that community paramedicine visits also go unpaid.
“Those two things, if they were to pass, could be reimbursed,” he said, “so the essential services would develop some revenue.”
In testimony supporting the bill, Chief Jason Frost of the Waterville Fire Department urged the committee to pass it, saying, “Health care providers across Maine are struggling to keep up with demand, and the challenges are especially pronounced in central Maine.”
He said that has become even more true since the closure of Northern Light Inland Hospital in Waterville, which has strained residents who need emergency response.
“Emergency departments are farther away, local services are overextended and vulnerable populations are left with fewer care options,” Frost said. “Our ‘boots on the ground’ services — emergency medical services providers, community paramedicine teams and home‑based care professionals — see the daily, real‑world consequences of these gaps.”
The bill, he added, would help ease the strain.
The bill would create a statewide initiative but follows a series of recent moves in Waterville to expand emergency and paramedicine programs.
The bill has yet to be scheduled for a work session.
Another bill Cloutier reviewed for councilors, L.D. 2124, is a statewide initiative aimed at addressing the challenges Waterville residents in crisis continue to face. The bill — “An Act to Support Emergency Shelter Funding Using Revenue from the Real Estate Transfer Tax” — would direct 1 percent of real estate transfer tax revenue to the Maine State Housing Authority to help fund emergency shelters.
If passed, the allocation would take effect Sept. 1, 2026, reducing the share of the transfer tax retained by counties to 8.2 percent.
The allocation would increase to 1.8 percent on Aug. 1, 2027, and would go directly to the shelter operating subsidiary program.
This would help get “more funding sources that are reliable for the shelters, like the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter in our community, from state funds,” Cloutier said.
The bill is supported by Homeless Services of Aroostook, the Next Step Domestic Violence Project in Washington County, the Maine Council of Churches, the United Community Living Center, the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence, the Maine Mayors Coalition, the Maine State Housing Authority, Tedford Housing, Milestone Recovery, the Family Violence Project, Maine Equal Justice and other agencies that work with individuals in crisis.
In testimony supporting the bill, Portland Mayor Mark Dion said, “Despite the critical role they play in our community, shelters across the state continue to struggle, often operating at a loss with near‑constant risk of closure.”
He added that Maine’s “emergency shelter system is in dire need of support and a more comprehensive state‑led approach that would ensure shelter is available to all Maine residents, regardless of ZIP code.”
The measure is opposed by the Maine Municipal Association, members of the Maine Registers of Deeds Association and the Maine Association of County Clerks.
The bill, which had a public hearing Feb. 11 before the Legislature’s Committee on Housing and Economic Development, was tabled after a work session Feb. 17.
The final legislative update Cloutier presented to councilors was the congressionally directed spending award of $850,000 for Waterville. The money will support three downtown projects aimed at improving pedestrian walkability.
Cloutier said independent U.S. Sen. Angus King Jr. played an important role in securing the funding.
This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor, a nonprofit and nonpartisan news organization. To get regular coverage from The Monitor, sign up for a free Monitor newsletter here.