Attorney General Steve Rowe announced today that the hours of operation for the Attorney General?s Consumer Mediation and Information phone line (Consumer Line) have been expanded. The toll free line, (800) 436-2131, will now be open Mondays through Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. to noon and from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Augusta, Maine: The Maine Bureau of Insurance and the Maine Attorney General have resolved concerns about MEGA Life and Health Insurance Company?s (MEGA Life) flawed method of determining premiums for individual health insurance policies, including payment of a $1,000,000 fine against the company. The $1,000,000 represents a civil penalty of $250,000 for the years 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007, which represents the time that MEGA Life wrote individual health policies in Maine. MEGA Life is also required to refund $4.6 million in overpaid premiums, plus interest, to consumers.
Attorney General Steve Rowe announced that the State of Maine has charged Abbott Laboratories and French drug company Fournier with violating antitrust laws in delaying the availability of a cheaper, generic version of TriCor, a cholesterol drug which last year accounted for over one billion dollars of Abbott?s sales.
Attorney General Steve Rowe made the following comments at a press conference on March 14, 2008:
We are here to present the seventh report of the Domestic Abuse Homicide Review Panel.
The Panel was created by the Legislature more than 11 years ago in response to the unacceptable number of domestic violence related homicides. Over the years we have seen that half the homicides in Maine are domestic violence related, a statistic that is unfortunately still true today.
NEWS RELEASE
Calling the funding essential to the operation of state crime and drug enforcement efforts, Attorney General Steve Rowe, joined by the 55 other Attorneys General from all jurisdictions of the United States today issued a letter calling on Congressional leaders to restore funding to the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program (Byrne-JAG).
Today, Maine Attorney General Steve Rowe announced the filing of a lawsuit against the United States Department of Health and Human Services (US DHHS) and Michael Leavitt in his capacity as Secretary of US DHHS. The Complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, challenges a certain agency rule that would adversely impact many of Maine?s Medicaid recipients and cost the State?s general fund more than 16 million dollars in fiscal years 2008 and 2009.
Today, Attorney General Steve Rowe urged the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) to take immediate action to investigate allegations that Sparks and Sparks Plus alcoholic energy drinks contain unsafe levels of caffeine. The letter also requests TTB to determine if the alcohol content in Sparks alcoholic energy drink is higher than the 6.0% alcohol by volume disclosed on the label. Attorney General Rowe is joined by 15 attorneys general in calling for this action.
Today the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling in Rowe vs. NH Motor Transport. The ruling strikes down provisions of a 2003 Maine law that required internet tobacco retailers to utilize carriers who take specific actions to ensure that packages containing tobacco products are not delivered to minors.
Attorney General Steve Rowe issued the following statement:
?Today the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia struck down Bush Administration regulations that exempted coal and oil fired power plants, including some of this country?s worst polluters, from their obligation to sharply decrease their mercury pollution. This ruling represents a significant victory for both the health of Maine people and our natural environment.
Maine Attorney General Steve Rowe today announced that Maine?s Medicaid program will receive approximately $2.2 million as part of two separate global settlements with Merck & Co., Inc.. The settlements involve 49 states, the District of Columbia and the federal government, totaling $649 million.
?This is a significant recovery for Maine?s Medicaid program,? Attorney General Rowe said.