AUGUSTA, Maine (AP)   Maine could expand Medicaid as early as July if everything goes as planned.

But first, lawmakers have to figure out exactly how much expansion will cost and how the state will pay for it. The Legislature’s appropriations committee met Wednesday to start that discussion.

Maine in November became the first state where voters have demanded lawmakers expand Medicaid.

The wording of the citizen initiative said that Medicaid expansion will cost the state $54 million once fully rolled out, an amount that takes into consideration an estimated $27 million in annual savings.

But Gov. Paul LePage claims the Legislature’s Office of Fiscal and Program Review is vastly underestimating expansion’s cost and inflating savings. The Department of Health and Health Services declined to attend Wednesday’s meeting, but agreed to answer written questions.