Maine Gov. Janet Mills Defends Medicaid Oversight in Contemptuous Response to CMS Inquiry – Maine Wire Responds

AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine Gov. Janet Mills said late Friday that her administration has submitted a detailed response to a federal inquiry from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, defending the state’s oversight of its Medicaid program and accusing the Trump administration of using fraud allegations for political purposes.

In a message posted to social media, Mills said former television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz, now serving as President Donald Trump’s administrator of CMS, sent her administration a letter on Feb. 6 containing 33 questions about how Maine manages its Medicaid program, known as MaineCare. She said the administration demanded answers within 30 days and that her office has now provided what she described as a comprehensive response, which is being released publicly.

Mills said the state’s response makes clear that Maine is conducting oversight to ensure MaineCare providers meet high standards of care, that it has procedures and enforcement mechanisms to identify fraud, and that it works with law enforcement to hold those responsible accountable.

She said her administration introduced legislation in 2023 to require licensing for several categories of Medicaid providers that had not previously been subject to those standards. According to Mills, the state had lacked additional tools before those changes, but now has stronger licensing requirements that place providers under greater scrutiny.

Mills said that whenever the state encounters what it considers a credible suspicion of fraud, it takes action and refers the matter to the Attorney General’s Office for investigation.

Framing the issue through her past experience as a district attorney, attorney general and governor, Mills said she has long pursued fraud cases and worked alongside the federal government in those efforts. But she argued that under Trump, allegations of fraud have become a political weapon aimed at Democratic-led states and officials who oppose the president.

Mills described the CMS inquiry as a thinly disguised attempt to intimidate those who challenge what she called abuses of power by the president. She said Maine nevertheless answered the administration’s questions, while arguing that the facts support the state’s record.

Among the figures she cited, Mills said Maine’s Medicaid payment error rate is 2.4%, less than half the national average of 6.1%. She also said that increased spending on autism services for children reflected efforts to serve more children, adding that CMS had encouraged those actions.

Still, Mills said she believes the outcome of the inquiry is already predetermined, pointing to what she characterized as similar actions taken in other states. She said she expects the administration may attempt to retaliate by withholding federal Medicaid funding.

Mills said she hopes that does not happen because nearly 400,000 Mainers, including seniors, children, veterans and people with disabilities, rely on MaineCare. But she warned that if the Trump administration does move to withhold funding, she and the attorney general would sue to protect healthcare access for Maine residents.

Mills closed by saying Maine will continue fighting fraud and will not be intimidated by what she described as threats from a president using fraud allegations as a pretext to harm people.

The staff of the Maine Wire did a special edition of Maine Wire TV late Friday to respond to Governor Mills response.