State Legislation/Regulation
LD 1805, “An Act to Preserve Home Care Coordination Services for Long-term Care Consumers Served in the Community”
M4A worked with Rep. Campbell, the Maine Long-Term Care Ombudsman and Elder Independence of Maine to introduce this legislation, and testified in support of this legislation.
Summary: This bill appropriates and allocates funds ($575,000) on an ongoing basis (2007-08 and 2008-09) for home care coordination services for consumers of state-funded and MaineCare-funded home-based care programs.
Sponsor: Rep. James Campbell
Cosponsors: Representatives Craven; Faircloth; Lewin; Pingree; Tardy and Senators Brannigan; Raye; Marrache and Weston
Committee: Health and Human Services
Action: This bill was referred to the Health and Human Services Committee. A Hearing was held on May 7, 2007. A Work Session was held on May 16, 2007 and the Committee voted “ought to pass as amended.” On May 2, 2007 the Democrats released their budget plan and it included $575,000 in FY 2008 and $575,000 in FY 2009 for home care coordination services. The Republican’s budget plan did not include this funding. The Appropriations Committee finally approved including $900,000 over 2 years in the budget by unanimous vote. On June 6, 2007 the Legislature passed the Budget (with our funding request intact) and the Governor has since signed it.