\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/43397955_20260128_ICERoundtable_05.jpg\")
\t\t\tGov. Janet Mills listens at a roundtable about ICE activity in Maine with Gov. Janet Mills and several Maine mayors as well as State House representatives and the Attorney General at Portland City Hall on Wednesday, January 28, 2026. (Brianna Soukup\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n
Gov. Janet Mills said she expects President Donald Trump\u2019s administration to withhold Medicaid funding from Maine even after state officials responded Friday to the federal government\u2019s request for information on MaineCare by describing how the program operates within the law and properly investigates claims of fraud.<\/p>\n
Maine Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Sara Gagne-Holmes sent responses Friday to Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator, which answered 33 questions Oz had sent the state in early February. <\/p>\n
The questions came after a January report from a federal watchdog that\u00a0outlined<\/a>\u00a0$45 million in potential improper payments for autism support services in MaineCare, which serves roughly 400,000 residents.<\/p>\n Oz had attempted to link Maine to ongoing fraud investigations in Minnesota, where the Trump administration has paused nearly $260 million in Medicaid payments<\/a>. It is also targeting other Democratic-led states such as New York<\/a> with similar probes.<\/p>\n Mills had said last month the state would respond to Oz, but also argued Trump used unfounded fraud claims as a \u201cpretense\u201d for ramped-up Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations<\/a> that hit both Maine and Minnesota.<\/p>\n Gagne-Holmes and the Mills administration responded Friday to meet a 30-day deadline<\/a> to provide the Trump administration with information on a wide-ranging list of questions regarding MaineCare. After providing a detailed list of answers that got into technical matters, Gagne-Holmes concluded her more than 40-page response by saying Maine \u201chas implemented \u2014 and continues to refine \u2014 a coordinated set of safeguards aimed at preventing, detecting and addressing improper payments.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe operate MaineCare in accordance with federal and state requirements,\u201d Gagne-Holmes wrote. \u201cAs always, we welcome guidance and technical assistance from CMS as a partner in promoting the best interests of MaineCare members and ensuring appropriate use of public funds.\u201d<\/p>\n Gagne-Holmes reiterated that the federal inspector general\u2019s January report on potential improper autism support payments did not include \u201cfindings or allegations of fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n The federal report flagged that rehabilitative and support payments for children with autism grew from $52.2 million in 2019 to $80.6 million in 2023, but Gagne-Holmes noted the increase was an \u201cintended and CMS-approved result\u201d of rate-setting reforms Maine lawmakers have approved in recent years.<\/p>\n