AUGUSTA, Maine — Lawmakers are considering a bill to require random drug testing for
MaineCare recipients.
The bill, sponsored by Republican Sen. Thomas Saviello of Wilton, would suspend benefits for MaineCare recipients who test positive for scheduled drugs.
The bill was reviewed Monday by the
Health and Human Services Committee, which also took up several other bills relating to MaineCare, Maine’s
Medicaid program.
Saviello’s bill is opposed by the American Association of Social Workers’ Maine chapter. Its executive director, Susan Lamb, says people with serious
mental illness have a high rate of substance abuse, and without treatment for their addictions, they will spiral downhill.
