An Act To Align Postpartum MaineCare Coverage with Federal Law
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1781
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: CARNEY
Amends: 22 MRSA §3174-G

Legislative Document
No. 1781
S.P. 617
In Senate, December 9, 2021
An Act To Align Postpartum MaineCare Coverage with Federal 
Law
Submitted by the Department of Health and Human Services pursuant to Joint Rule 203.
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on December 7, 2021.  Referred to the Committee 
on Health and Human Services pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator CARNEY of Cumberland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  22 MRSA §3174-G, sub-§1, ¶A, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 731, Pt. OO, 
§1, is amended to read:
A.  A qualified woman during her pregnancy and up to 60 days following delivery 
when the woman's family income is equal to or below 200% 209% of the nonfarm 
income official poverty line;
Sec. 2.  22 MRSA §3174-G, sub-§1, ¶A-1, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 461, §1, is 
amended to read:
A-1.  Notwithstanding paragraph A, beginning January 1, 2022 and until June 30, 2022 
August 1, 2022, a qualified woman during her pregnancy and up to 6 12 months 
following delivery when the woman's family income is equal to or below 200% 209% 
of the nonfarm income official poverty line;
Sec. 3.  22 MRSA §3174-G, sub-§1, ¶A-2, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 461, §2, is 
repealed.
Sec. 4.  22 MRSA §3174-G, sub-§1, ¶A-3, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 461, §3, is 
repealed.
Sec. 5.  22 MRSA §3174-G, sub-§1, ¶G, as amended by PL 2021, c. 461, §4, is 
further amended to read:
G.  A person otherwise eligible who is a noncitizen legally admitted to the United States 
to the extent that coverage is allowable by federal law if the person is:
(1)  A woman during her pregnancy and up to 60 days following delivery; or
(2)  A child under 21 years of age;
Sec. 6.  22 MRSA §3174-G, sub-§1, ¶G-1, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 461, §5, is 
amended to read:
G-1.  Notwithstanding paragraph G, beginning January 1, 2022 and until June 30, 2022 
August 1, 2022, a person otherwise eligible who is a noncitizen legally admitted to the 
United States to the extent that coverage is allowable by federal law if the person is:
(1)  A woman during her pregnancy and up to 6 12 months following delivery; or
(2)  A child under 21 years of age; and
Sec. 7.  22 MRSA §3174-G, sub-§1, ¶G-2, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 461, §6, is 
repealed.
Sec. 8.  22 MRSA §3174-G, sub-§1, ¶G-3, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 461, §7, is 
repealed.
Sec. 9.  PL 2021, c. 461, §8 is repealed. 
Sec. 10.  State plan amendment. The Department of Health and Human Services 
shall, no later than 30 days after the effective date of this section, submit requests for any 
state plan amendments to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, 
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services determined necessary in order to accomplish 
the purposes of this Act.  The department shall take all reasonable and necessary steps to 
seek approval of the state plan amendment.
Sec. 11.  Retroactivity. This Act applies retroactively to January 1, 2022.
SUMMARY
The purpose of this bill is to align state law with the requirements under federal law in 
order to avoid delays in implementation and provide a more efficient rollout of technology 
and rulemaking without changes to existing appropriations and allocations. The bill 
accomplishes the following.
1. It repeals provisions enacted by Public Law 2021, chapter 461 that expand 
postpartum MaineCare coverage for a qualified woman and a noncitizen legally admitted 
to the United States from 6 months to 12 months on a graduated schedule between January 
1, 2022 and July 1, 2023.
2. It expands postpartum MaineCare coverage for a qualified woman and a noncitizen 
legally admitted to the United States to 12 months beginning August 1, 2022.
3. It expands a qualified woman's eligibility for postpartum MaineCare coverage by 
increasing the nonfarm income official poverty line requirement from 200% to 209%.
4. It clarifies that in order to receive postpartum MaineCare coverage a noncitizen 
legally admitted to the United States must otherwise be eligible for MaineCare.
5. It repeals Public Law 2021, chapter 461, section 8, which requires the Department 
of Health and Human Services to file any necessary state plan amendments by January 1, 
2022 regarding the extension of postpartum coverage under the MaineCare program in that 
law, and enacts a similar provision that instead requires the department to file any necessary 
state plan amendments no later than 30 days after the effective date of this legislation 
regarding the postpartum coverage provisions of this legislation.
The legislation applies retroactively to January 1, 2022, the date of the requirement to 
file a state plan amendment pursuant to Public Law 2021, chapter 461.