Maine Gov. Janet Mills is touting a new federal report showing fewer uninsured people are eligible for Medicaid in Maine.

Mills, who expanded the availability of Medicaid coverage in 2019, is taking the report as a sign that the expansion is working.

The report, issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, shows that from 2018 to 2020, the number of uninsured people eligible for Medicaid in Maine went down by 4.9%.

Only two other states showed a higher decline — Idaho with an 8.4% drop and Virginia with a 7.2% drop, according to the report.

“Maine people voted overwhelmingly to expand Medicaid, which is why I moved to implement expansion on day one of my administration after months of needless delay,” Mills announced in a statement. “And now, this report shows that expansion is working, proving once again that Maine people were right. My administration will continue to fight for more accessible and affordable health care for all Maine people.”

Mills, a Democrat, also cited other legislation passed after the Medicaid expansion, including the 2020 Made for Maine Health Coverage Act, as making health care more accessible. 

Mills’ opponent in the Novermber election, former Gov. Paul LePage, famously opposed Medicaid expansion during his tenure in the Blaine House, even after it was approved in a state referendum in 2017, citing costs.

Mills, who was the state’s attorney general at the time, sided with Maine Equal Justice Partners in their 2018 lawsuit that accused LePage of breaking the law by failing to implement expansion.

Maine Republican Party Director Jason Savage noted today that figures from Mills’ own administration indicate that monthly premiums will go up as much as $52 by 2025, costing individuals more than $600 a year more than before the 2020 law took effect.

“Thanks to a partisan law passed by Mills and Augusta Democrats, individual health insurance premiums are expected to rise $600 per person per year. According to her own administration, Mills has made health insurance more expensive when Mainers can least afford it,” Savage said.

According to Mills’ statement, the Medicaid expansion now covers nearly 98,000 Maine residents, and the federal government pays for 90% of the costs.