AUGUSTA — Using rhetoric rarely heard in the Maine State House, Democrats accused the Republican administration of lying and covering up information about malfunctioning human services computers that resulted in 19,000 people erroneously receiving MaineCare.

More than two dozen Democrats held a news conference today to accuse officials in Gov. Paul LePage’s administration of concealing what they knew about the computers while the Legislature was considering a $120 million budget fix earlier this year. That budget included cuts in MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid program, which affected thousands of people.

Democratic Sen. Joseph Brannigan of Portland said the administration must take responsibility for its “mismanagement” and for “willfully misleading lawmakers.” He asked for an investigation.

Republicans called the charges a partisan political attack and said the Democrats failed to back up their charges.

 


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.