AUGUSTA — Some Maine lawmakers say questions for single parents on the state’s online application for Medicaid are too intrusive and should be eliminated.

Single parents applying for MaineCare coverage are being asked personal questions, including where their child was conceived and the reason the other parent is absent.

Democratic state Rep. Richard Farnsworth of Portland, chairman of the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee, called the questions “goofy.”

Democratic state Sen. Colleen Lachowicz of Waterville tells the Portland Press Herald (http://bit.ly/1jQkS8H ) some questions are irrelevant.

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services defended the questions, saying they are not meant to intrude on privacy, but are necessary.

The questions have been online for about two years, but only caused a stir recently when an angry applicant contacted the newspaper.