House approves emergency supplemental budget to close MaineCare shortfall, fund spruce budworm response

The Maine House on Feb. 11 approved a supplemental budget (House Paper 131, LD 209) designated as an emergency measure to close an anticipated MaineCare funding gap, pay health providers and nursing homes, and provide time-sensitive funding to address a spruce budworm threat in northern Maine. The body adopted Committee Amendment A and sent the bill to the Senate after closely divided votes.

The budget package aims to appropriate general‑fund dollars to the Department of Health and Human Services so MaineCare can continue paying provider claims, and to provide funds this spring for targeted spraying and forest protection against a likely spruce budworm outbreak. Lawmakers repeatedly described the measure as narrowly focused on “urgent” items that must be financed immediately rather than a substitute for the larger biennial budget.

Supporters said the emergency measure was necessary to avoid immediate disruptions to the state’s health‑care system. “This funding gap needs to be closed,” a member of the Appropriations and Financial Affairs committee said during debate, citing a Department memo warning that, without immediate action, the state would begin capping payment cycles and making partial payments to providers in March. Committee and floor speakers described over $400 million in provider payments at risk and said MaineCare serves roughly 400,000 Mainers — about one in three residents — and a higher share in many rural counties.

Opponents and some Democrats pressed for additional priorities that were not included in the emergent package, most notably a…