Governor LePage Calls Out Congresswoman Pingree for Not Telling Mainers that State Law Mandates Coverage of Pre-Existing Conditions

Statement

Governor Paul R. LePage today responded to a letter he has received from Congresswoman Chellie Pingree regarding the Governor's decision to join a lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act.

"Your statement that the lawsuit that I joined would 'nullify' any protection for pre-existing conditions is inaccurate and misleading. Long before the ACA, Maine law had significant protections in place for people with pre-existing conditions," wrote Governor LePage. "If the ACA were repealed tomorrow, Maine people would still have their state law protections for pre-existing conditions, just as they would still have guaranteed issue and community rating."

He continued, "Prior to the implementation of the ACA, Maine's insurance cost far less than it does now. Our 2011 law creating the reinsurance (invisible high-risk pool) pool was effective in further lowering costs, but the ACA ended that program and replaced it with a temporary, one-size-fits-all federal program. Fortunately, this year the Trump Administration saw the benefit and granted our waiver request to reimplement the reinsurance pool. We implemented the pool in time for today's opening of the marketplace, and Mainers shopping for healthcare on the exchange will see that their costs have finally fallen due to our efforts."

Governor LePage's letter to Congresswoman Pingree and her original letter are available at the links below.

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