Cutting MaineCare rates and taxing nonprofits would put holes in the social safety net, they say, but the state sees room for hospitals to absorb the hits.
Joe Lawlor
Staff Writer
Joe Lawlor writes about health and human services for the Press Herald. A 24-year newspaper veteran, Lawlor has worked in Ohio, Michigan and Virginia before relocating to Maine in 2013 to join the Press Herald. He is still considered “from away” but since then, he has learned what a “dooryard” is, eaten “whoopie pies” drank Moxie and boiled some “lobstahs.” The stories he enjoys most are when he learns something and meeting inspiring people.
He lives in South Portland - aka “SoPo” - with his wife, Melanie, and two school-age children.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Politics
Fluoride in water? Bill would give Maine customers final say
Town boards would no longer be allowed to block petitioners from putting the question to water district voters.
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Posted inLocal & State, News
Maine licensing board censures Biddeford doctor for patient’s overdose death
Stephen H. Doane, who has had two patients die from overdoses, keeps his license because he now operates with restrictions and the board concludes he is no longer a threat to patients.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Portland veteran, eyewitness to Iwo Jima: ‘The flag was a great sight’
Serving in the Navy, Bill Gardner helped provide support to Marines during the pivotal WWII battle. He has had a lifetime to reflect on the ‘eyelash’ that separated ‘winning and dying.’
Posted inNews, Politics
Maine lawmakers hear detailed accounts of Riverview’s staffing problems
The new superintendent and a union president agree that the state psychiatric center is understaffed, but don’t agree on an immediate solution.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Politics
Measure would let day care families sue Maine DHHS
A lawmaker from Portland says five families were wronged at a day care in Lyman and deserve the chance to prove their case.
Posted inLocal & State, Politics
Doctors, addicts blast LePage drug treatment proposal
Critics question the science behind the administration’s proposal to cut methadone reimbursements and substitute Suboxone.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Politics
Public health advocates blast LePage plan to redirect tobacco settlement money
The critics say that shifting $10 million a year to maintain MaineCare reimbursement rates for primary care doctors would hobble the state’s anti-smoking efforts.
Posted inLocal & State, News
For Maine Lyme patients, a path to controversial treatment
A bill would prevent the state medical board from punishing a doctor who prescribes long-term antibiotics, a disputed method for fighting the spreading disease.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Judge praises progress at Maine’s Riverview Psychiatric Center
During a hearing on a 1990 consent decree involving former AMHI patients, hospital officials describe a new approach to integrating patients committed through Maine’s criminal justice system.