Maine Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) and the MMEHT Income Protection Plan
Thursday, April 16, 2026
You have likely heard about the new Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program, which enables eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of paid leave for medical, parental, family care, military family, or safe leave. Benefits begin paying in May 2026. More information is available on the Maine PFML website, or you may direct questions about this program to your employer.
The Health Trust offers an Income Protection Plan (IPP) to eligible members. IPP is a disability plan that provides partial income replacement for employees who are unable to work due to a non‑work‑related illness or injury.
It is important to understand that IPP is fundamentally different from PFML. IPP is designed specifically to cover non‑work related absences due to your own disability, while PFML is a paid leave program that applies to a broader range of circumstances, such as family caregiving or bonding with a new child.
Under the Health Trust’s IPP, employees may receive income protection for up to 52 weeks per injury or illness. PFML, by contrast, is limited to 12 weeks within a 12‑month period, regardless of how many separate qualifying conditions occur.
We have received questions about how IPP benefits may be impacted when the Maine PFML program takes effect. Answers to the most frequent questions are provided below.
- If your absence qualifies, you should apply for PFML through the Maine DOL PMFL application portal.
- Members who have IPP coverage and become disabled should also file an IPP claim, the same as you always have. This way your disability date will already be documented, should PFML be denied or if your disability exceeds 12 weeks.
- The Health Trust’s third-party administrator, Unum, will be using a calculator to estimate the amount you are eligible to receive from Maine’s PFML program, which is based on the law and the earnings information your employer provided to MMEHT.
- PFML is the primary payor, and Unum will reduce the IPP benefit by the amount of your state benefit. Due to this requirement, many members will not see a significant benefit from IPP for the first 12 weeks.
- If the state denies the claim or PFML is exhausted, Unum will remove the offset and adjust the IPP payment accordingly.
The Board of Trustees is closely monitoring the implementation of Maine PFML and will use this data to consider if additional changes to the IPP plan are warranted for 2027 to ensure the plan retains or increases its value to members.
If you have additional questions, please direct these to your employer or call the Health Trust Member Services at 1-800-852-8300.