Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) pulled out his veto pen Wednesday and rejected Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion for the third time after it passed through the state legislature.
Though the expansion bill cleared the legislature, it did not pass with enough votes to override LePage’s veto, the Portland Press Herald reported, which is also what killed its predecessors.
Medicaid expansion “would have a disastrous impact on Maine’s budget, as well as those truly needy individuals, our disabled and elderly, who rely today on the scarce resources in our program,” LePage said in his veto message. “Maine has been down this road before, and we must learn from previous experience.”
More than 24,000 Mainers have been left without health coverage under Obamacare because the state hasn’t expanded Medicaid.
