The Maine Independent: Medicaid cuts and the end of ACA credits causing healthcare crisis in Maine, report says
After years of managing her multiple rare, chronic and complicated diseases, many of which stem from long COVID, South Portland resident Marie Follayttar is exhausted and desperately wants to return to the community organizing she had to leave because of her health. These days, however, it’s difficult enough to find the energy to write an email or have a conversation with a friend, let alone for long workdays.
On top of everything else, Follayttar, a disability rights advocate, is worried about losing the health insurance she has through Medicaid because of new eligibility requirements in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a 2025 budget bill passed by congressional Republicans and signed into law by President Donald Trump. Beginning in January, individuals who receive Medicaid benefits will be forced to deal with a pile of new paperwork and renew their eligibility twice a year instead of once to keep their health coverage.
Experts say these new requirements will result in people who are eligible for coverage losing it because of red tape. About 31,000 Maine residents could lose their Medicaid coverage after the new requirements are implemented in January, according to state officials.
“It’s a full-time job to take care of me, with all those doctors, and so when you add administrative things like additional paperwork and additional check-ins and you don’t have assistants who can do that, then it’s one more thing that may not get done,” said Follayttar, who grew up in Cape Elizabeth before moving to Rockland and eventually landing in South Portland. “Or it will be late, and then that can lead to the loss of my healthcare and then having to go through and apply again. And paperwork is so overwhelming for me.”
These concerns are playing out as the federal healthcare cuts backed by Trump and congressional Republicans have resulted in a healthcare emergency in Maine, according to a new report from Defend America Action, a progressive group that launched last year and says its purpose is to challenge abuses of power at the federal level.
The report delves into how the Trump administration and congressional Republicans are reshaping healthcare in Maine, including with Medicaid cuts and the end of the federal tax credits that could be used to subsidize the cost of premiums for insurance purchased on Affordable Care Act marketplaces.
Following the enactment of the budget bill and the expiration of the ACA tax credits, thousands of Maine residents have lost Medicaid and ACA marketplace insurance coverage, insurance policy premiums are rising, hospitals that rely on Medicaid funding are at risk of closing, healthcare clinics are shuttering, and providers are cutting OB-GYN services, the report notes. A Damariscotta maternity unit, for example, is slated to end operations in December. An overwhelming majority of Mainers surveyed at the beginning of 2026 — 70% — reported that they or a family member skipped or delayed care because of cost.
Between June 2025 and June 2026, there were 15,605 fewer Maine adults and children enrolled in Medicaid, according to KFF, a nonprofit that analyzes and writes about healthcare policy in the United States. Another 7,581 Maine residents lost their ACA coverage between 2025 and 2026, KFF reported.
“Working families, children, seniors, and small business owners across the state are losing coverage at breakneck speed and paying more than ever for health care,” Defend America Actions wrote in its report.
Follayttarr says the Trump administration’s policies and the federal healthcare cuts will mean fewer doctors in Maine will accept Medicaid and emergency rooms will be flooded with people who have lost health insurance and have no other way to get care.
“It’s really scary to think that in an emergency, because of so many people getting off insurance and needing care in the emergency room, that emergencies won’t be able to be helped,” she said. “We’ve already had our hallways filled in the emergency room, and that’s before all this. I don’t know how the people in my state will be OK.”
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