Dunlap strikes ‘insurance’ from Medicaid expansion ballot question

Christopher Cousins, Special to The County
7 years ago

Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap has replaced the word “insurance” with “healthcare coverage” in the description of Medicaid expansion as it will appear in a November referendum question.

Opponents of Medicaid expansion, which will be decided by voters this November following a citizen petition to place the question on the ballot, objected to wording proposed by Dunlap in August that described Medicaid as “insurance.”

The Medicaid question, which will be second on the ballot, will be worded as follows:

“Do you want Maine to expand Medicaid to provide healthcare coverage for qualified adults under age 65 with incomes at or below 138% of the federal poverty level, which in 2017 means $16,643 for a single person and $22,412 for a family of two?”

Dunlap said in a news release Thursday that between the Medicaid question and Question 1, which seeks to allow a casino in southern Maine, his office received more than 150 comments during a 30-day window that ended Sept. 1. On Question 1, Dunlap also removed the words “out-of-state,” which he originally proposed to describe the company that would create the casino.

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