AUGUSTA — The head of Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services told a group of lawmakers Tuesday that the LePage administration isn’t trying to take the state’s social safety net away from people who truly need it.

But, Mary Mayhew said, the administration wants to make sure that Maine’s welfare programs are providing temporary help for the people who are most in need. That’s especially important, given the difficult budget, she said.

Mayhew spoke to about 40 legislators who attended a dinner forum sponsored by the Maine Heritage Policy Center, a conservative group that has helped shape the LePage administration’s budget and welfare reform proposals. Lawmakers from both parties and both houses of the Legislature attended the dinner.

Mayhew, three weeks into her job, gave a brief presentation about the department’s priorities but did not delve into the details of welfare reform. She answered some of the same questions that have come up during budget hearings about proposed changes in Medicaid and cuts in the Fund for Healthy Maine programs.

Mayhew emphasized that the department’s budget reflects a shift of $446 million to pay for Medicaid — MaineCare — because federal stimulus funds will dry up at the end of this fiscal year.

“That money goes away at the end of June,” she said. “That’s a big part of this biennial budget.”

Mayhew told the lawmakers that she plans to pursue Medicaid reforms that improve efficiency and lower costs, even though she is re-evaluating a plan to contract out the program to managed care providers.

And, she said, the department is seeking other funding to make up for the Healthy Maine cuts, such as a new federal grant to support home health care.

State Rep. Sharon Treat, D-Hallowell, pointed out that the home health care grant is part of the federal Affordable Health Care Act, which Maine is now trying to overturn in court.

“I’m glad to hear that we are going to benefit from (the law), because I know we are,” Treat said.

Tarren Bragdon, director of the Maine Heritage Policy Center, presented to lawmakers the findings of a welfare study the organization published last year, “Fix the System.”

Bragdon was part of LePage’s budget team, and some of the issues raised in the report are now addressed in the proposed DHHS budget, including proposals to impose a five-year limit on cash assistance and make new immigrants and refugees ineligible for a variety of aid programs for their five years of residency.

Bragdon said nearly 30 percent of Mainers are trapped in the welfare system because they receive some form of state-funded support, such as Medicaid or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. And, he said, Maine has more generous rules than many states.

Treat said the reforms wouldn’t help an elderly nursing home resident become self-sufficient. “Are you saying an 82-year-old who needs fuel assistance is trapped in welfare?”

State Sen. David Trahan, R-Waldoboro, said no one is suggesting taking nursing home residents off Medicaid or cutting off benefits for disabled people. He noted that many recipients are neither elderly nor disabled.

“No system is perfect,” said state Rep. Mark Eves, D-North Berwick. Eves said lawmakers should discuss the system and define the real problems.

“How can we motivate and not punish?” he said. “How do you transition people to being more self-sufficient?”

Staff Writer John Richardson can be contacted at 791-6324 or at: jrichardson@pressherald.com