AUGUSTA, Maine – Maine Veterans’ Homes officials are once again requesting that legislators enact long-term funding to keep nursing homes open for veterans.
More than a dozen lawmakers, Maine Veterans’ Homes leaders and family members of home residents testified on Tuesday in favor of a bill that would give the nonprofit $3,135,000 every year to sustain operations. LD 2217 also proposes raising the amount every year, if needed, by factoring in cost of living expenses.
The Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs committee voted to pass an amended version of LD 2217. The bill will be revised in work sessions this week before going before the full Legislature.
Maine Veterans’ Homes have faced financial troubles that nearly led to the closure of homes in Caribou and Machias in 2022. The Legislature approved $3.5 million that prevented those closures. In 2023 Gov. Janet Mills included a $765,000 one-time payment in her supplemental budget, and legislators approved $2.6 milllion from a state medical marijuana fund to close the nonprofit’s $10.3 million funding gap.
But those measures are only short-term solutions, said Maine Veterans’ Homes CEO Sharon Fusko.
Troubles began in 2017 when MaineCare reimbursement rates no longer covered the cost of caring for residents, leading to a $5.3 million shortfall. This year, Maine Veterans’ Homes faces a $11.7 million shortfall, Fusko said.
“Since the pandemic, we have used over $18 million in capital reserves to cover operating losses. At the current rate, we’ll lose all our capital reserves in 36 months,” Fusko said. “Without ongoing funding, we face the real threat of closures.”
Continuous annual funding would ensure that all six homes, including those in Caribou and Machias, stay open, Fusko said. The remaining homes are in Bangor, Augusta, South Paris and Scarborough.
Without the home in Caribou, spouses and family members in Aroostook would need to travel several hours or more to visit loved ones, said Dave Donovan of Fort Fairfield, a National Guard veteran.
Donovan told legislators Tuesday about a veteran at the Caribou home whose wife lives minutes away and is dealing with health issues.
“Her biggest fear is seeing the Caribou home close and Jim [her husband] moving downstate,” Donovan said. “We owe them something. Let’s make veterans feel every bit as important as when they signed a paper to serve.”
The only opposition to LD 2217 came from Jeanne Lambrew, commissioner of Maine Department of Health and Human Services, who submitted written testimony prior to Tuesday’s public hearing.
The Office of MaineCare Services is currently revising its long-term care rate reimbursements for nursing homes to be more equitable and consistent, and the Legislature has already greenlighted that effort, Lambrew said.
Lambrew questioned whether LD 2217 would make the yearly payments to Maine Veterans’ Homes eligible for federal Medicaid matching funds.
“This bill creates a separate and additional system of funding for a subset of facilities that conflicts with the objective of [MaineCare] rate reform,” Lambrew said.
Sen. Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, sponsored LD 2217, which was co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of nine legislators, including House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland.
