LePage Loses Battle To Call Medicaid Expansion ‘Welfare’ On November Ballot

A campaign by Maine’s firebrand Gov. Paul LePage (R) to make sure Medicaid is labeled “welfare” in a ballot initiative this November to expand it to tens of thousands low-income residents has come to a screeching halt, with Secretary of State Matt Dunlap (D) unveiling a much more neutral wording.

When Mainers go to the polls this fall, they will see the following question:

“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?”

David Farmer, the communications director of Mainers for Health Care, which is campaigning in favor of the Medicaid expansion, told TPM he was satisfied with the word choice.

“We believe that Sec. Dunlap has done a good job crafting a fair and accurate question that meets the requirements in Maine law,” he said.

LePage, who has vetoed five bills from the Maine legislature that would have expanded Medicaid under Obamacare, told several conservative talk radio shows that he will sue the Secretary of State if Medicaid expansion is not called either “welfare” or an “entitlement” on the ballot.

Governor LePage’s office did not immediately respond to TPM’s request for comment about whether he will follow through on this threat.