An Act to Amend MaineCare Financial Eligibility Requirements
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 0782
Sponsors: TEPLER
Amends: 22 MRSA §3174-G, 22 MRSA §3174-A

Legislative Document
No. 782
S.P. 340
In Senate, March 4, 2025
An Act to Amend MaineCare Financial Eligibility Requirements
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on February 26, 2025.  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 TEPLER of Sagadahoc.
Cosponsored by Senator: TIPPING of Penobscot, Representatives: ABDI of Lewiston, 
MACIAS of Topsham, RANA of Bangor, SATO of Gorham.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  22 MRSA §3174-G, sub-§1, ¶C, as repealed and replaced by PL 2005, c. 
3, Pt. M, §1 and affected by §2, is amended to read:
C.  A qualified elderly or disabled person when the person's family income is equal to 
or below 100% 138% of the nonfarm income official poverty line;
Sec. 2.  22 MRSA §3174-G, sub-§1, ¶E, as amended by PL 2023, c. 597, §7, is 
further amended to read:
E.  On or before September 30, 2012, the parent or caretaker relative of a child 
described in paragraph B when the child's family income is equal to or below 200% of 
the nonfarm income official poverty line, subject to adjustment by the commissioner 
under this paragraph and, beginning October 1, 2012, the parent or caretaker relative 
of a child described in paragraph B when the child's family income is equal to or below 
133% 138% of the nonfarm income official poverty line, subject to adjustment by the 
commissioner under this paragraph.  Medicaid services provided under this paragraph 
must be provided within the limits of the program budget.  Funds appropriated for 
services under this paragraph must include an annual inflationary adjustment 
equivalent to the rate of inflation in the Medicaid program.  On a quarterly basis, the 
commissioner shall determine the fiscal status of program expenditures under this 
paragraph.  If the commissioner determines that expenditures will exceed the funds 
available to provide Medicaid coverage pursuant to this paragraph, the commissioner 
must adjust the income eligibility limit for new applicants to the extent necessary to 
operate the program within the program budget.  If, after an adjustment has occurred 
pursuant to this paragraph, expenditures fall below the program budget, the 
commissioner must raise the income eligibility limit to the extent necessary to provide 
services to as many eligible persons as possible within the fiscal constraints of the 
program budget, as long as on or before September 30, 2012 the income limit does not 
exceed 200% of the nonfarm income official poverty line and, beginning October 1, 
2012, the income limit does not exceed 133% 138% of the nonfarm income official 
poverty line;
Sec. 3.  22 MRSA §3174-G, sub-§1, ¶E, as amended by PL 2023, c. 597, §8, is 
further amended to read:
E.  On or before September 30, 2012, the parent or caretaker relative of a child 
described in paragraph B when the child's family income is equal to or below 200% of 
the nonfarm income official poverty line, subject to adjustment by the commissioner 
under this paragraph and, beginning October 1, 2012, the parent or caretaker relative 
of a child described in paragraph B when the child's family income is equal to or below 
100% 138% of the nonfarm income official poverty line.  Medicaid services provided 
under this paragraph must be provided within the limits of the program budget.  Funds 
appropriated for services under this paragraph must include an annual inflationary 
adjustment equivalent to the rate of inflation in the Medicaid program.  On a quarterly 
basis, the commissioner shall determine the fiscal status of program expenditures under 
this paragraph.  If the commissioner determines that expenditures will exceed the funds 
available to provide Medicaid coverage pursuant to this paragraph, the commissioner 
must adjust the income eligibility limit for new applicants to the extent necessary to 
operate the program within the program budget.  If, after an adjustment has occurred 
pursuant to this paragraph, expenditures fall below the program budget, the 
commissioner must raise the income eligibility limit to the extent necessary to provide 
services to as many eligible persons as possible within the fiscal constraints of the 
program budget, as long as on or before September 30, 2012 the income limit does not 
exceed 200% of the nonfarm income official poverty line;
Sec. 4.  22 MRSA §3174-G, sub-§1, ¶G, as amended by PL 2021, c. 519, §5, is 
further amended by amending subparagraph (2) to read:
(2)  A child person under 21 23 years of age;
Sec. 5.  22 MRSA §3174-AA, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 450, Pt. A, §4, is 
amended to read:
2.  Savings.  An amount up to $8,000 $15,000 for an individual and up to $12,000 
$25,000 for a household of more than one person.
Sec. 6.  Rulemaking.  The Department of Health and Human Services shall amend 
its rules establishing the maximum asset limits for MaineCare eligibility for individuals 
who are working with a disabling condition to $15,000 for an individual and $25,000 for a 
household of more than one person.  Amendments to rules adopted pursuant to this section 
are routine technical rules pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, chapter 375, 
subchapter 2-A.
SUMMARY
This bill makes the following changes to financial eligibility for the MaineCare 
program.
1. It changes the family income limit for qualified elderly or disabled persons from 
100% to 138% of the nonfarm income official poverty line.
2. It changes the family income limit for parents and caretaker relatives from 100% to 
138% of the nonfarm income official poverty line.
3. It raises the age of eligibility for a person otherwise eligible who is a noncitizen 
legally admitted to the United States to the extent that coverage is allowable by federal law 
from under 21 years of age to under 23 years of age.
4. It raises the maximum asset limits for members subject to an asset test from $8,000 
for an individual to $15,000 and from $12,000 for a household of more than one person to 
$25,000.
5. It directs the Department of Health and Human Services to establish by rule that the 
maximum asset limits for those who are working with a disabling condition is $15,000 for 
an individual and $25,000 for a household of more than one person.