Author: Roy Matthews

Since the 1990s, low-income and Medicare patients have depended on the 340B program to pay for drugs and medications at discounted costs. Now, hospitals are abusing that program to the detriment of those without a financial safety net. The 340B Medicare program provides hospitals and clinics with discounted medical drugs for Medicare patients. While the program targets hospitals where a majority of patients are on Medicare, there is no prohibition on reselling these medications, nor are there reporting requirements to show that they were used to benefit Medicare patients. As a result, for the past decade hospitals have been using the 340B program…

Controversy at the United States Supreme Court usually takes the form of high-profile cases that could reshape federal law. These days, however, a SCOTUS kerfuffle threatens Maine’s proposed return to the 1901 state flag.  The latest bout of controversy involves a Revolutionary War era flag flown outside of Justice Samuel Alito’s house. As the Supreme Court is set to hear cases related to the January 6, 2021 riot, the New York Times suddenly decided to publish years-old photos of the “Appeal to Heaven” flag flying outside Alito’s vacation home last year. Media pundits have pointed to photos of the same flag being…

During a critical housing shortage for Mainers, the state government continues to take in more migrants than it can accommodate. A city ordinance proposal last week suggested that Westbrook, Maine, rely on private residences to house migrants, leaving many Mainers scratching their heads. State residents can barely house themselves, much less the refugees, asylum seekers, and illegal immigrants Gov. Janet Mills (D) continues to import. High interest rates and high building costs have pushed the average sale price of a single-family home in Maine to $360,000. With “new Mainers” already receiving 90 to 95 percent of Westbrook’s welfare benefits, officials ought to be prioritizing the…

Maine’s recently defeated electric vehicle (EV) mandate tried to put the electric car before the battery.  The citizen’s petition delivered to the Maine Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) called for Maine to adopt California’s Advanced Clean Cars II regulations. This would have required 51 percent of new vehicle sales in Maine to be EVs by 2028 and 82 percent in 2032. Electric vehicles won’t be rolling off the assembly line anywhere without batteries, and those don’t come cheaply.  [RELATED: Maine BEP Rejects Controversial EV Mandate…] Fortunately, Newry, Maine hosts one of the world’s richest deposits of lithium, one of the…

Last month, Maine lawmakers killed a bill that would have stopped a regressive energy program and lowered energy costs for ratepayers across the state. As a result, Mainers can expect sky-high energy rates to continue into the warm weather season. An Act to Reduce Electricity Bills (LD 683), sponsored by Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winterport), would have ended Maine’s Net Energy Billing (NEB) system which provides participating ratepayers with dollar credits to their electricity bills when they use private or shared renewable energy sources. This means that ratepayers that aren’t in the NEB are eating the costs through higher rates…

In response to a rise in climate anxiety, particularly among young voters, politicians have made numerous “climate pledges” to transition entire networks to carbon-free energy sources. These goals are noble. Whether they are realistic remains to be seen, but Maine’s legislature has a chance to make these intentions a reality — without breaking the bank for consumers. Since Maine Gov. Janet Mills pledged to make the state carbon-neutral by 2045, consumers have seen a massive uptick in energy costs, with Mainers paying 23% more than the national average electric bill. State Rep. Reagan Paul has introduced LD 1549 in the…