If you're managing a healthcare practice in Maine, you're juggling professional licensing requirements, corporate governance standards, and entity formation rules that feel like they're written in three different languages. The overlapping frameworks under Title 13 (professional corporations), Title 31 (limited liability companies), and Title 32 (professional licensing) create compliance complexity that pulls your focus away from patient care.
You'll need to choose between four distinct professional entity structures: Professional Corporations (PCs) under Title 13, Chapter 22-A, Professional Limited Liability Companies (PLLCs) under Title 31, Chapter 15 with professional service provisions from Title 13, Professional Associations (PAs) governed under Title 13, Chapter 22-A and Title 13, §736, and Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) under Title 31, Chapter 15. Each structure requires all owners to maintain active professional licenses. If you lose your licensure, you'll face mandatory share redemption under Title 13, §743. This creates a direct regulatory nexus between your individual licensing compliance and corporate ownership eligibility that you must carefully manage.
Professional Corporations are the traditional structure for medical practices in Maine. When you form a PC, it's governed primarily by Title 13, Chapter 22-A (Maine Professional Service Corporation Act). You must restrict ownership to licensed healthcare professionals authorized to provide the specific services your corporation offers. According to Section 736, your corporate name must include "chartered," "professional corporation," "professional association," "service corporation," or the abbreviations "P.C.," "P.A.," or "S.C."
Your governance framework incorporates provisions from Title 13-C (Maine Business Corporation Act) for general corporate operations while maintaining strict professional ownership requirements. Section 741 prohibits share ownership by non-licensed individuals. This creates absolute restrictions that prevent family members, passive investors, or business partners without professional licenses from holding equity interests in your practice. The critical provision in Section 732 clarifies that corporate structure doesn't shield you from personal liability for your own professional negligence. Your malpractice accountability remains identical to sole practitioner arrangements.
PLLCs operate under Title 31 (the Maine Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act) with professional service requirements incorporated through Title 31, Section 811. This makes the Maine Professional Service Corporation Act's provisions (Title 13, Chapter 22-A) applicable to your professional LLC. You'll navigate a hybrid regulatory framework where Title 31 governs general LLC operations while Title 13, Chapter 22-A professional service requirements are cross-applied to your PLLC. Your entity must include "limited liability company," "limited company," or abbreviations "L.L.C.," "LLC," "L.C.," or "LC" in its name according to Title 31, Section 1508, with optional professional designations permitted.
The PLLC structure offers you operational flexibility comparable to standard LLCs while maintaining professional accountability. You receive liability protection for general business debts but remain personally liable for your own professional acts, errors, and omissions. This makes PLLCs particularly attractive if you're running a multi-discipline practice where physicians, nurses, and physician assistants co-own a single entity. Each member must be a professional authorized by law to perform "one or more" of the services your entity provides, per Maine Revised Statutes Title 31, §1560.
Note: Maine does not enforce a Corporate Practice of Medicine doctrine, permitting properly structured corporate employment of physicians.
Maine doesn't enforce a Corporate Practice of Medicine doctrine. The sole statutory reference in Title 24-A, Section 4313(5) uses the concept negatively by prohibiting its use as a defense by insurance carriers rather than establishing the doctrine affirmatively. This creates a permissive environment for corporate employment structures.
Instead of a CPOM doctrine, Maine regulates your medical practice corporate structures through professional ownership requirements under Title 13, Chapter 22-A. You must ensure that your professional corporations are owned and controlled exclusively by licensed professionals. To address corporate employment structures, Maine has created explicit statutory exemptions allowing specific corporate arrangements: nonprofit medical organizations under Title 24, §2301 (which states such organizations "are not deemed to be practicing medicine") and health maintenance organizations under Title 24-A, §4222. Recent case law confirms this permissive approach: the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in Hogan v. Lincoln Medical Partners, 2025 ME 22 addressed a physician employment dispute in a corporate medical practice context without invoking CPOM prohibitions, focusing instead on federal PREP Act immunity provisions. This demonstrates that Maine courts adjudicate your physician employment disputes without raising CPOM concerns.
When you're forming your healthcare entity, you'll navigate specific filing requirements, fees, and processing timelines. Current fees and forms were revised June 26, 2024, establishing the following framework: Professional Corporation formation costs $145.00, while Professional Limited Liability Company formation costs $175.00, with standard processing times of 35-40 business days for both entity types.
Your Articles of Incorporation for PCs or Articles of Organization for PLLCs must explicitly state your entity's professional status and specify the exact professional service to be rendered (such as "practice of medicine" or "practice of dentistry"). Neither the Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine website nor Title 32, Chapter 48 explicitly documents whether you need professional board approval before or after entity formation. This creates a procedural gap that requires you to contact the Board directly before filing your formation documents.
Your Maine healthcare entity faces annual compliance obligations administered by both the Secretary of State and Maine Revenue Services. The annual report requirement establishes a June 1st deadline each year, with first-year entities filing between January 1st and June 1st of the year following formation. You'll pay $85 for annual reports if you're a domestic professional entity, $150 if you're a foreign professional entity, and $35 if you're a nonprofit healthcare corporation. The state provides online filing through its annual reports portal, making electronic submission accessible for all entity types.
Maine maintains a franchise tax integrated with corporate income tax filings. According to the December 2025 Tax Alert, electronic filing and payment become mandatory for your entity if you have a combined annual tax liability of $10,000 or greater. This is administered through the Maine Tax Portal. Healthcare-specific taxes, including the Healthcare Provider Tax and Hospital Tax, also require electronic filing through the Maine Tax Portal.
Recent legislative changes have reshaped your compliance obligations. Public Law 2025, Chapter 42, effective August 9, 2024 (retroactively), eliminated requirements for you as a healthcare professional to report each occurrence of certain events to DHHS, reducing your administrative burden. Public Law 2025, Chapter 445, also effective August 9, 2024, expanded healthcare compliance requirements requiring careful review of the bill text to identify specific new obligations. The 2024 legislative session enacted LD 636, effective July 1, 2024, authorizing DHHS to license personal care agencies with new quality assurance standards.
If you're running a nonprofit hospital or medical service corporation, you face additional obligations under Title 24, Section 2306. You must file quarterly and annual financial statements to the Superintendent of Insurance in addition to standard Secretary of State annual reports. All your healthcare professional entities remain subject to individual profession licensing board regulations and professional licensing standards for all employed practitioners per Title 13, Chapter 22-A: Maine Professional Service Corporation Act, with specific provisions ensuring that each individual rendering professional services maintains individual accountability for their professional acts.
The Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine establishes continuing medical education requirements that directly affect your entity ownership eligibility. You must complete a minimum of 40 hours Category 1 CME per biennial (two-year) period, including 3 hours of Category 1 CME specifically on opioid prescribing within that 40-hour requirement. Your Category 1 CME must be accredited by the AMA, ACCME, Maine Medical Association, or Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine. Category 1 credits may substitute for Category 2 requirements, but Category 2 credits cannot substitute for your Category 1 requirement.
Your license renewal follows a biennial cycle based on your birth year. If you were born in an even year, you renew by the last day of your birth month in even-numbered years. If you were born in an odd year, you follow the same pattern in odd-numbered years. The Board requires you to take an online examination once every four years (every other renewal cycle), with renewal conducted through Maine's online state licensing system.
The regulatory framework creates a direct connection between your licensing status and ownership eligibility. Section 741 of Chapter 22-A restricts ownership to "qualified persons," defined as individuals licensed to provide the professional services your entity is organized to render. When you lose active licensure through expiration, suspension, revocation, or voluntary surrender, you no longer meet the "qualified person" definition. This triggers compulsory share acquisition requirements under Section 743, which mandates that your professional corporation must acquire or cause redemption of shares when you as a shareholder cease to be licensed or die.
If you're running a multi-discipline practice, you benefit from Maine's explicit permission for different healthcare professionals to co-own single entities. Section 723 requires each shareholder to be "authorized by law to perform one or more of the professional services" your corporation renders, with the phrase "one or more" permitting physicians, nurses, and physician assistants to share ownership. Each professional remains subject to their respective licensing board regulations, with you as a physician complying with Board of Licensure in Medicine standards, nurses following Board of Nursing requirements, and physician assistants adhering to PA practice regulations as established in Chapter 2: Joint Rule Regarding Physician Assistants.
Can non-physicians employ physicians in Maine, or does the CPOM doctrine prohibit corporate employment?
Maine doesn't enforce the Corporate Practice of Medicine doctrine in the restrictive manner seen in states like California or Texas. Title 24-A, Section 4313(5) actually prohibits using CPOM as a defense in certain legal actions. Maine has created explicit exemptions for nonprofit medical organizations under Title 24, Section 2301 and health maintenance organizations under Title 24-A, Section 4222. While professional entities you organize under Chapter 22-A must maintain professional ownership, Maine permits various corporate employment structures that preserve your accountability through individual liability provisions rather than blanket employment prohibitions.
What happens to entity ownership if a physician's license lapses due to missed CME requirements or non-renewal?
When you lose active licensure status, you automatically cease to be a "qualified person" and lose ownership eligibility in professional medical entities. Per Title 13, §743 (Compulsory Share Acquisition), your professional corporation must acquire or cause the redemption of shares when you as a shareholder cease to be licensed or authorized to render professional medical services. This applies whether your license lapses due to missed continuing medical education (CME) requirements, failure to meet the biennial 40-hour Category 1 CME requirement, or non-renewal by your birth month deadline. Your ownership interests are subject to mandatory buyback, and your corporation must execute this redemption to maintain statutory compliance.
Under Title 13, Section 741, only licensed professionals authorized to render your entity's services qualify as shareholders. When you fail to maintain required CME or miss renewal deadlines, your license lapses. Section 743 requires your professional corporation to acquire or cause redemption of your shares. Your operating agreements should include provisions addressing automatic ownership redemption upon license loss, valuation methodology for forced buyouts, and notification requirements when your licensure status changes.
Do Maine healthcare entities need to file annual reports, and what are the specific deadlines and fees?
Yes, you must file annual reports with the Maine Secretary of State by June 1st each year. You'll pay $85 if you're a domestic professional entity, $150 if you're a foreign professional entity, and $35 if you're a nonprofit healthcare corporation. If you formed your entity this year, you'll file between January 1st and June 1st of the year following formation. Filing is available through the online annual reports portal. If you fail to file by the June 1st deadline, you may face late penalties and potential administrative dissolution or revocation. If you're running a nonprofit hospital, you face additional quarterly and annual financial statement requirements to the Superintendent of Insurance under Title 24, Section 2306.
What are the key differences between forming a PC versus a PLLC for a medical practice in Maine?
Both structures require professional ownership and maintain your individual professional liability, but they differ in formation costs, governance flexibility, and name requirements. PCs cost $145 to form via Form MBCA-6 and must include "P.C.," "P.A.," or "S.C." designators per Section 736, while PLLCs cost $175 via Form MLLC-6 and require "L.L.C." or "LLC" designators under Title 31, Section 1508. PLLCs generally offer you greater operational flexibility through member-managed or manager-managed structures and more adaptable profit distribution arrangements. Both process in 35-40 business days with identical expedited options ($50 for next-business-day, $100 for same-business-day).
Can a medical practice include different types of healthcare professionals as owners, such as physicians, nurses, and physician assistants together?
Yes, Maine explicitly permits multi-discipline professional ownership. Title 13, Section 723 requires you as a shareholder to be authorized to perform "one or more" of the professional services your corporation renders, and Title 31, Section 1560 contains identical language for PLLCs. This "one or more" phrasing explicitly authorizes physicians, nurses, and physician assistants to co-own single entities. All your owners must maintain active professional licenses, each professional remains subject to their respective licensing board regulations, and your individual professional liability continues per Section 753 regardless of the multi-discipline structure.
Managing healthcare entity compliance across formation requirements, annual reports, franchise tax obligations, and professional licensing coordination creates administrative burden that diverts your focus from patient care. Our healthcare clients managing 200+ entities spend just 5-10 minutes handling what used to take hours of manual tracking. Discern processes your annual report filings in 3 minutes, automatically tracks the June 1st deadline for all your entities, maintains registered agent services across jurisdictions, and flags licensing status changes that could trigger ownership redemption requirements under Section 743.
Ready to simplify your healthcare entity compliance? Book a demo with Discern today and see how we can reduce your administrative burden from hours to minutes while ensuring your Maine entities stay in good standing.
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