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Join
the CAHC Coalition!
Want to join the 40+
other organizations and individuals who are part of the
Consumers for Affordable Health Care
Coalition?
Click here for more
information. Or email Andrea Irwin.
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CAHC
Educating and Reaching out to
Mainers
What a month April was for our
Outreach and Education staff! We took part in several
events that potentially reached thousands of Maine
people.
Click here for more
details. |
Remembering
Rocky
A memorial
service for Rocky D'Andrea was held April 12th at St.
Matthew's Church in Limerick. Family and friends
recalled Rocky's sense of humor, civic duty,
volunteerism, family commitment and responsibility to
country.
To
read more click
here. |
CAHC
Staffer Says Goodbye
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Interesting
Facts
An
insurance fraud warning recently came from the Maine
Bureau of Insurance. Superintendent Mila Kofman issued
an emergency Cease and Desist Order to American
Trade Association (ATA), Smart Data Solutions, Pinnacle
Health Solutions, and operators of those
entities. The Order demands they immediately stop
sales in Maine, issue refunds to consumers, and pay any
medical claims people who bought their policies may have
filed.
To read more or find out how you may
get a refund click here.
|
 The
Maine Campaign for Better Care Has Lauched & Is
Growing! Click here for more details!
Click the above logo
for information on how to join our effort or share your
personal
story.
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Free
Training on Health Reform
We periodically hold health care and coverage
trainings. They will give you more information about why
national and state health care reform is important and
how you can be more active in getting the message
out. If you
are interested in attending any of these trainings,
please
email Andrea
Irwin. |
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President Obama Visits ME &
Recognizes CAHC Member Theresa D'Andrea
 President Barack Obama
recognized CAHC Coalition member, Theresa
D'Andrea, and her late husband, Rocky, in his
speech on health care reform in Portland, April
1st. The President highlighted aspects of
national reform that includes similar measures to
Maine's new law that will remove annual and
lifetime health insurance caps.
Click here to read the rest of
this story.
To see some of the media
coverage of Theresa's recognition click these
links:
MPBN
Portland Press Herald
Christian Science
Monitor
New England Cable
News
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Gov
Signs Cap Bill and Honors D'Andrea
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National
Reform: Helping Small Businesses Access Affordable
Health Coverage
There's been so much
talk and so much confusion about what national
health reform will really mean for Maine's small
businesses, it's tough for anyone to know what is
fact and what is fiction. We are still
working hard to examine the impact the law will
have on Maine in the coming months and years. In
the meantime we've received so many questions
about the new reform law regarding small
businesses that we created a fact sheet which we
hope will be helpful. Please stay
tuned for more information!
Click here to see fact
sheet.
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Court Decides
in Favor of Maine People in Anthem Law
Suit
The court found in
favor of Maine's hard-working families rather than
Anthem's profits. Anthem sued the state in
appeal to Insurance Superintendent Mila Kofman's
decision. Kofman denied the company's 2009
proposed premium increases as high as 38
percent-saying that Anthem is not guaranteed a
profit on every line of business. Kofman
determined that since the company was making a 3%
profit on all of its Maine business, it could
stand to break even on some of its individual
plans. Kofman instead approved a 10.9%
increase. Anthem took the case to court and
lost. The court agreed with the
Superintendent.
To read the rest of
this story click
here.
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CAHC
in the News
Obama
Blasts 'Fear Mongering' in Health Care Reform
Speech
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CAHC's
HelpLine is Giving Real
Help to
Maine
People
True
Story:
A
gentleman called our HelpLine because he had
lost his insurance when he lost his job at a local
paper mill. His wife is 41 but disabled and on
Medicare. She had been told that because she was
under 65, she could not get Medicare Part D which
would help with her prescription drug
costs. Because of this, the couple felt they
had to pay for expensive COBRA coverage that
would keep her insured under his
former employer plan. Additionally, the man
thought he was only eligible for a 49% subsidy if
he took COBRA and didn't know how he'd be able to
afford it now that he was out of work.
Click here to read rest of
story. |
Sliding
Scale Care Reduced at ME
Hospital
We recently learned that
income guidelines for Acadia Hospital's
sliding-scale care program have been reduced this
year from 200% to 150% of the Federal Poverty
Level. We were told it is related to mental
health budget cuts and that this is only one of
the many ways that such cuts negatively impact
Mainers.
To find out whether you may
qualify for charity care or sliding scale care and
to see what levels each hospital may have visit
Health Care Guide on our Web site
here. |
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Thank you for reading our
newsletters. This is the last one I will be
creating since I am leaving CAHC. I hope you
enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed putting
them together.
If you liked the
information included in this newsletter, please
forward it along to others you think may be
interested. If you are interested in
learning more about what CAHC has been working on,
or how we may be able to help you in your health
care or health coverage matters,
visit our Web
site.
Sincerely,
Communications
Coordinator | | |
