Maine news, sports, weather | Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

STATE HOUSE

LePage wants benefits fraud crackdown

By Susan M. Cover scover@mainetoday.com
State House Bureau

PRESQUE ISLE -- Gov. Paul LePage said Thursday that he wants to more than double the number of fraud investigators in the state to crack down on those who abuse the benefits provided by the Department of Health and Human Services.

"The last administration did not want to prosecute fraud," he said during a town hall meeting in Presque Isle. "We do."

LePage said there are only 11 fraud investigators across the state now, but he thinks there should be two per county -- which would total 32. The comments came as LePage and members of his cabinet answered questions from an audience of more than 150 at the University of Maine at Presque Isle as part of his Capitol for a Day tour.

Before the town hall, LePage answered questions from the local media, including an inquiry into four firings at DHHS that were announced earlier in the day. The department said in a press release that four political appointees from previous administrations had been let go: Ron Welch and Don Chamberlain (Office of Adult Mental Health Services), Diana Scully (Office of Elder Services) and Jane Gallivan (Office of Adults with Cognitive and Physical Disabilities Services).

When asked if the department was being restructured, LePage said "absolutely."

"The state of Maine has to change its culture," he said. "If you want to change, we will work with you. If you don't want to change, sayonara."

LePage traveled to several places in Aroostook County throughout the day as part of his Capitol for a Day tour. It's the seventh town hall he's held since February as he visits all 16 counties. Members of his cabinet joined him in answering questions in a meeting room at the University of Maine at Presque Isle.

In the area of health care, LePage took questions from those concerned about a new state law that makes significant changes to health insurance regulations. One woman said she was worried that she would have to travel to see a physician and another said she thought those in rural areas would have to pay more than those in southern Maine.

LePage said the changes will mean cheaper rates for those who are younger, but that other attempts to lower rates will take longer. When the woman disagreed with the governor, he responded by saying: "It's not a bunch of horseshit ma'am, I'm sorry."

As he did last month in Dover-Foxcroft, LePage said he will push the Legislature to eliminate taxes on pensions. He said it will benefit the elderly in Maine and give money back to retired state workers who had their cost of living increases frozen for two years.

One questioner wanted to know if the state was going to put up more fencing to keep deer and moose off the roads. Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Commissioner Chandler Woodcock said he's working the Department of Transportation on better signage, and that fencing isn't as effective as it may seem.

"Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't," he said. "It herds deer into another area."

A man in the back of the room wanted to know when the state was going to get rid of the Land Use Regulation Commission, which controls development on 10 million acres in northern Maine.

LePage said in January, he thought everyone in Maine wanted to get rid of it too. But, the Legislature has since set up a task force to change the process.

"It will not be in the hands of the state," he said. "It's going to go back likely to the counties."

Susan Cover - 620-7015

scover@mainetoday.com