|
Great
News!!
Dirigo
Health approved by committee
and moves to Maine House and Senate
Thank you to all for your calls and letters to your
legislators and the newspapers in support of Dirigo
Health. All members of the Joint Select Committee
on Health Care Reform agreed to support the bill with
several amendments. The amendments leave in tact all
of the essential access, cost containment and quality
improvement parts of the bill (LD 1611). This is very
good news for consumers and small businesses who have
seen their rates go through the roof in the past three
years.
The bill as amended will provide affordable, comprehensive
coverage to an estimated 31,000 people in the first
year - these are people who are individuals or work
for small businesses. The state will pay about $53
million in the first year to avoid any costs of an
assessment on insurance carriers from being passed
onto consumers or businesses in that year. Also, in
later years, there will be no assessment if there
are no savings as a result of the operation of the
plan. Significant cost containment provisions remain
in the bill. For example, any new medical equipment
or buildings will be subject to review by a health
planning agency to make sure that our scarce health
care dollars are spent on things that we need, where
we need them. There will be a one year moratorium
on new construction and spending by hospitals. The
building and equipment review process will now apply
to doctors who run ambulatory surgical facilities
- not just to hospitals. Voluntary cost controls on
doctors, hospitals and insurance companies will begin
July 1, 2004 and run for one year. After that, the
state health planning body and the Commission to Study
Maine's Community Hospitals will decide what cost
control measures are needed in later years. Finally,
small businesses will have access to rate filings
and rate review hearings for the first time!! These
are changes from current practice are quite significant
and will go a far way to control rising costs.
THE NEXT STEP...
The next step in winning universal health care for
Maine, is a vote on Dirigo Health, in the Maine House
of Representatives and Maine Senate, which is expected
to happen tomorrow (Thursday, June 12).
Since consumer voices (emails and phone calls) have
been so effective in this giant step toward health
care for alls Mainers, we really need people to call
their legislators today and early tomorrow to urge
them to vote in support of the bill. Click on the
link below for more information on how you can help!
Return
to Coalition News
|
