State Expansions: Maine

In June 2003, Governor Baldacci signed Maine's Dirigo Health Plan into law. The act was designed to ensure that every Mainer has access to affordable, quality health care by 2009.

Last year, the governor proposed a set of significant reforms to the program, including individual and employer mandates and a new reinsurance pool. The governor also planned to phase out community rating, which means that insurers would be able to vary premiums based on health status and claims history. Baldacci's measures were included in LD 1890, but the bill did not pass before the end of the 2007 legislative session. To learn more about the governor's proposed reforms, see the Dirigo Health Agency’s Dirigo 2.0 Summary.

Before the end of last year's session, the legislature passed LD 431, which allows Dirigo Health to self-administer rather than contract with a private insurance company. The state did end its contract with Anthem (a private insurer), but did not decide to self-administer Dirigo Health. Instead, the state contracted with Harvard Pilgrim, a nonprofit insurer. 

In June 2007, the State Supreme Court upheld one of the major sources of financing for Dirigo Health-savings offset payments. Dirigo Health is funded, in part, by a controversial assessment on insurance companies called savings offset payments. The assessment is based on an estimate by the Dirigo Health Agency of the overall health system savings that result from the Dirigo Health Plan, which were $44 million in 2004. Insurers in Maine sued the state over the savings offset payments, and the Supreme Court voted 5-1 in favor of the state.

Maine Expansion Resources

• Maine's Dirigo Health Reform of 2003 (Families USA, November 2007)
• Leading the Way? Maine’s Initial Experience in Expanding Coverage Through Dirigo Health Reforms (The Commonwealth Fund, December 2007)
• Dirigo Health: What Does Maine's New Health Care Law Mean for Other States? (Community Catalyst, February 2004)
• Dirigo Health Agency
• Consumers for Affordable Health Care Foundation

Maine in the News

• Beverage Tax Foes Far Ahead in Funding (Morning Sentinel, July 24, 2008)
• Governor signs beverage tax into law to help pay for Dirigo (Blethen Maine News Service/Portland Press Herald, April 17, 2008) 
• Bill sets fixed fee for Dirigo Insurers (Portland Press Herald, April 8, 2008) 
• Insurer fined $1 million by state bureau (Portland Press Herald, April 4, 2008) 
• DirigoChoice Partners with Harvard Pilgrim (Portland Press Herald, September 7, 2007)
  

For general resources on state expansions, see Other Resources.

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