Welfare Debt Paid: Governor LePage to Visit Lewiston and Waterville Hospitals 

Payment of debt places Maine in better financial standing

AUGUSTA – This week, the State of Maine will pay 39 Maine hospitals nearly $500 million for MaineCare services dating back to 2009. To mark the occasion, Governor Paul R. LePage will visit two Central Maine hospitals, Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston and Inland Hospital in Waterville. The Governor will deliver remarks before presenting payment to each hospital.

In 2010, Governor Paul R. LePage promised Mainers he would call attention to this welfare debt and pay it back. On Wednesday, hospitals will receive electronic payments totaling $490,200,000. Central Maine Medical Center is receiving 38,188,674, and Inland Hospital is receiving $9,460,493.

This overdue, massive welfare debt of $490 million will be off the books, placing Maine in an improved fiscal condition. Recently, Standard and Poor’s (S&P) and Moody’s Investors Service, leading providers of global credit benchmarks, affirmed their credit ratings on the State of Maine’s general obligation debt while noting Maine’s rising welfare costs.

“These payments to Maine hospitals are not a windfall. It is welfare debt owed for over a decade that the State of Maine is finally making good on,” said Governor LePage. “Collectively, our hospitals are the state’s largest employer, providing good jobs and investment in communities throughout Maine.”

“As evidenced in the Moody’s report, failure to pay the hospital debt has hindered Maine’s financial status and harmed the economy as a whole. With this payment made, now we must continue to move Maine forward to further strengthen the economy by making thoughtful, common-sense reforms.”

WHERE: Inland Hospital (Main Lobby), 200 Kennedy Memorial Dr., Waterville

WHEN: 11:15 a.m.

WHERE: Central Maine Medical Center (Main Lobby), 300 Main St., Lewiston

WHEN: 2 p.m.