As COVID-19 captures the public’s attention, Maine’s battle with opioid addiction rages on. BY ROSE LUNDY | SEPTEMBER 12, 2021 Scott Knowles became a recovery coach after his own experience with substance use, which began when he was 11. He has been sober for three years and is working on a degree from Eastern Maine Community College. Photo by Garrick Hoffman. Maine lost 18,000 years of life last year to opioid overdoses. That’s what Oliver Bradeen, executive ... Read More ›

Enforcement will begin Oct. 29 rather than Oct. 1, to give health care workers more time to get fully vaccinated. Meanwhile, the state reports the most new cases in a day since Jan. 22. Maine is giving health care workers nearly an extra month to get vaccinated against COVID-19, extending the deadline even as the state continues to see a surge in new cases that rivals the pandemic’s midwinter peak. The state will begin enforcing its vaccine mandate on Oct. 29 rather than Oct. 1 to give ... Read More ›

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Facilities that provide treatment for substance use disorder will be reimbursed at a higher rate for Medicaid patients they treat, Maine Gov. Janet Mills announced Tuesday. Some $2.1 million set aside in the budget passed in July will go toward making the payments to a range of facilities, including detoxification providers and halfway houses, the Portland Press Herald reported. The increase will take effect Nov. 1. Detoxification providers will get $385 per person per ... Read More ›

Tuesday's announcement came on International Overdose Awareness Day. The state lost a record 502 people to drug overdoses last year, and the numbers so far this year suggest that will be eclipsed. Maine Gov. Janet Mills marked International Overdose Awareness Day on Tuesday by announcing that her administration will increase Medicaid reimbursement rates for residential substance use disorder treatment. Beginning Nov. 1, the reimbursement rate for detoxification providers will increase by 77 ... Read More ›

Representatives from groups providing home health and other services sent a letter Thursday to Gov. Mills asking for a 45-day extension of the Oct. 1 deadline. Leaders of five organizations that represent home health agencies and other health care-related workforces have asked Gov. Janet Mills to delay implementing her vaccination mandate, which takes effect Oct. 1. The organizations said in a letter Thursday that they support the mandate, but there simply isn’t enough time for unvaccinated ... Read More ›

Bangor Daily News, by  Caitlin Andrews AUGUSTA, Maine — The Democratic-led Maine House of Representatives endorsed a bill that would reduce the possession of scheduled drugs from a crime to a civil penalty on Thursday in a victory for criminal justice reform advocates this session. The bill from Rep. Anne Perry, D-Calais, is one of the biggest pieces of criminal justice legislation introduced in Maine this year. It would follow a model implemented in Oregon, where people who possess a ... Read More ›

Staff Shortages Threaten Mental-Health System for Basic Services   May 25, 2021 - Suzanne Potter, Public News Service (ME) Play Audio in Browser Window A recent juvenile-justice task force found that many youths are in detention because of a lack of community-based alternatives and wait lists for existing programs. (Chatiyanon/Adobestock) AUGUSTA, Maine -- With about three weeks left in the legislative session, mental-health advocates want lawmakers to ... Read More ›

The Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee is considering several bills that would boost the pay for those who provide direct care to Mainers with intellectual and developmental disabilities. "Shaughnessy also urged the Legislature to act quickly. “We need something now,” Shaughnessy said. “Not in a year. Now is when we need it." The pandemic has only exacerbated the longstanding reimbursement problem, leaving workers, agencies and those they care for in crisis, Shaughnessy ... Read More ›

A bill before the Legislature raises tough questions about forcing people into inpatient mental health treatment. BY BILL NEMITZCOLUMNIST Click Here for Full Article "Some bills wind their way through the legislative process with nary a raised eyebrow. Others leave lawmakers in a moral quandary, caught between one side that says do something and another that says don’t. L.D. 785 is one of those others. It’s titled “An Act to Change the Standard for Assessing Risk of Serious Harm.” ... Read More ›