Janet Mills Will Allow $1m In Additional Nursing Home Funding To Move Forward After Delay

AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine Gov. Janet Mills told lawmakers on Monday that she would allow a measure providing $1 million in additional nursing home funding over two years to go into law after a months-long squabble with legislative Republicans over the issue. The bill from Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, passed the Democratic-led Legislature in June, but it was one of 39 bills held by the Democratic governor at the end of the 2019 session over her administration’s concern that Maine would exceed a federal funding cap. Mills said in a letter to legislative leaders on Monday that she would allow the bill to become law after her administration was able to avoid that possible pitfall by using an alternative measure for the cap basing the payment cap on actual costs and not a comparison to Medicaid costs.