LD 782

132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
  FIRST REGULAR SESSION-2025
Legislative Document  No. 782
S.P. 340  In Senate, March 4, 2025
  An Act to Amend MaineCare Financial Eligibility Requirements
   Received by the Secretary of the Senate on February 26, 2025. Referred to the Committee
on Health and Human Services pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed.
  DAREK M. GRANT
  Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator TEPLER of Sagadahoc.
Cosponsored by Senator: TIPPING of Penobscot, Representatives: ABDI of Lewiston,
MACIAS of Topsham, RANA of Bangor, SATO of Gorham.
  Printed on recycled paper
1 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
2     Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §3174-G, sub-§1, ¶C, as repealed and replaced by PL 2005, c.
3 3, Pt. M, §1 and affected by §2, is amended to read:
4     C. A qualified elderly or disabled person when the person's family income is equal to
5     or below 100% 138% of the nonfarm income official poverty line;
6     Sec. 2. 22 MRSA §3174-G, sub-§1, ¶E, as amended by PL 2023, c. 597, §7, is
7 further amended to read:
8     E. On or before September 30, 2012, the parent or caretaker relative of a child
9     described in paragraph B when the child's family income is equal to or below 200% of
10     the nonfarm income official poverty line, subject to adjustment by the commissioner
11     under this paragraph and, beginning October 1, 2012, the parent or caretaker relative
12     of a child described in paragraph B when the child's family income is equal to or below
13     133% 138% of the nonfarm income official poverty line, subject to adjustment by the
14     commissioner under this paragraph. Medicaid services provided under this paragraph
15     must be provided within the limits of the program budget. Funds appropriated for
16     services under this paragraph must include an annual inflationary adjustment
17     equivalent to the rate of inflation in the Medicaid program. On a quarterly basis, the
18     commissioner shall determine the fiscal status of program expenditures under this
19     paragraph. If the commissioner determines that expenditures will exceed the funds
20     available to provide Medicaid coverage pursuant to this paragraph, the commissioner
21     must adjust the income eligibility limit for new applicants to the extent necessary to
22     operate the program within the program budget. If, after an adjustment has occurred
23     pursuant to this paragraph, expenditures fall below the program budget, the
24     commissioner must raise the income eligibility limit to the extent necessary to provide
25     services to as many eligible persons as possible within the fiscal constraints of the
26     program budget, as long as on or before September 30, 2012 the income limit does not
27     exceed 200% of the nonfarm income official poverty line and, beginning October 1,
28     2012, the income limit does not exceed 133% 138% of the nonfarm income official
29     poverty line;
30     Sec. 3. 22 MRSA §3174-G, sub-§1, ¶E, as amended by PL 2023, c. 597, §8, is
31 further amended to read:
32     E. On or before September 30, 2012, the parent or caretaker relative of a child
33     described in paragraph B when the child's family income is equal to or below 200% of
34     the nonfarm income official poverty line, subject to adjustment by the commissioner
35     under this paragraph and, beginning October 1, 2012, the parent or caretaker relative
36     of a child described in paragraph B when the child's family income is equal to or below
37     100% 138% of the nonfarm income official poverty line. Medicaid services provided
38     under this paragraph must be provided within the limits of the program budget. Funds
39     appropriated for services under this paragraph must include an annual inflationary
40     adjustment equivalent to the rate of inflation in the Medicaid program. On a quarterly
41     basis, the commissioner shall determine the fiscal status of program expenditures under
42     this paragraph. If the commissioner determines that expenditures will exceed the funds
43     available to provide Medicaid coverage pursuant to this paragraph, the commissioner
44     must adjust the income eligibility limit for new applicants to the extent necessary to
45     operate the program within the program budget. If, after an adjustment has occurred
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46
1     pursuant to this paragraph, expenditures fall below the program budget, the
47
2     commissioner must raise the income eligibility limit to the extent necessary to provide
48
3     services to as many eligible persons as possible within the fiscal constraints of the
49
4     program budget, as long as on or before September 30, 2012 the income limit does not
50
5     exceed 200% of the nonfarm income official poverty line;
6     Sec. 4. 22 MRSA §3174-G, sub-§1, ¶G, as amended by PL 2021, c. 519, §5, is
7 further amended by amending subparagraph (2) to read:
8(2) A child person under 21 23 years of age;
9     Sec. 5. 22 MRSA §3174-AA, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 450, Pt. A, §4, is
10 amended to read:
11     2. Savings. An amount up to $8,000 $15,000 for an individual and up to $12,000
12 $25,000 for a household of more than one person.
13     Sec. 6. Rulemaking. The Department of Health and Human Services shall amend
14 its rules establishing the maximum asset limits for MaineCare eligibility for individuals
15 who are working with a disabling condition to $15,000 for an individual and $25,000 for a
16 household of more than one person. Amendments to rules adopted pursuant to this section
17 are routine technical rules pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, chapter 375,
18 subchapter 2-A.
19SUMMARY
20     This bill makes the following changes to financial eligibility for the MaineCare
21 program.
22    1. It changes the family income limit for qualified elderly or disabled persons from
23 100% to 138% of the nonfarm income official poverty line.
24    2. It changes the family income limit for parents and caretaker relatives from 100% to
25 138% of the nonfarm income official poverty line.
26     3. It raises the age of eligibility for a person otherwise eligible who is a noncitizen
27 legally admitted to the United States to the extent that coverage is allowable by federal law
28 from under 21 years of age to under 23 years of age.
29     4. It raises the maximum asset limits for members subject to an asset test from $8,000
30 for an individual to $15,000 and from $12,000 for a household of more than one person to
31 $25,000.
32     5. It directs the Department of Health and Human Services to establish by rule that the
33 maximum asset limits for those who are working with a disabling condition is $15,000 for
34 an individual and $25,000 for a household of more than one person.
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