Maine hospitals that are paid with taxpayer monies should hold open their board meetings to the people who pay the bill, Maine’s Attorney General said.

Janet T. Mills, serving her second term as the state’s top legal official, told a group of Lincoln County Democrats in Damariscotta that hospitals should also post their prices for specific services.

“If a hospital is receiving public funds, their meetings should also be public,” she told the party regulars and elected officials at a March 15 St. Patrick’s Day Dinner featuring corned beef and cabbage at Mobius Community Center. She also said hospitals should list their base price for specific services such as blood tests and what they charge for specific medications.

Mills told the group she has working on foreclosure mediation and student debt issues, but she touched on the current battle between Gov. Paul LePage and the state legislative leaders over ways to fund the state’s multimillion dollar debt owed to the state’s hospitals.

While she agreed the hospitals should be paid, she suggested they should be more transparent in their governance. She related an incident where she once attempted to attend the board meeting of a hospital but was refused admittance.

Mills said she was told by a board member they would have to consult their attorney before she would be allowed to attend. She did not name the hospital that declined to allow her to attend their meeting. 

State Rep. Bruce MacDonald (D-Boothbay) who also attended the Democratic dinner, is the sponsor of a bill before the current legislative session that would require hospitals receiving more than 50 percent of their revenue from public funds, like Medicaid, to reveal their bylaws and publish their board meeting minutes.

Mills is backing a companion bill that would require hospitals to open their board meetings to the public. 

MacDonald said in an interview that both bills are scheduled for a hearing in the next few weeks. Similar bills have been proposed in earlier legislative sessions, but they have failed after opposition by the Maine Hospital Association, he said.

State Sen. Christopher K. Johnson (D-Somerville) told the Democratic party faithful Gov. LePage’s proposed state budget cuts to municipalities, circuit breaker and homestead property tax exemptions would just shift the costs from the state to towns and property taxpayers. He also said legislators were working hard to help the state’s lobster industry.

Other Democratic party officials attending the event included Phil Bartlett, a member of the Democratic National Committee and Lincoln County Democratic Party chairman Lisa Miller.