Healthcare

Our health care costs are astronomical; they hurt Maine families, they hurt Maine businesses, and they drain our economy. The next Governor must work to bring health care costs down for all Mainers. We need to redesign our health care delivery system so it puts the incentives in the right places – on prevention and primary care. By encouraging doctors, hospitals, health care workers and patients to focus on health, rather than sickness, we can go a long way to bending the curve on our skyrocketing health care cost.

Much of what the health care debate focused on in Washington we already do here in Maine. Now, we must make sure Maine capitalizes on the benefits of national reform and extend coverage to as many people as possible. As governor I will push to have health insurance “exchanges” up and running as soon as possible so businesses and individuals can pool together to get coverage at a lower cost.

Maine has strong standards for mandated benefits, meaning that insurance companies in Maine must offer coverage for several necessary medical services. We can strengthen this by increasing access to insurance coverage for all Mainers. Regardless of what the final product of Federal health care reform efforts entail, I will push to make sure that every Mainer has access to quality affordable care.

Sick Time: I have introduced legislation that would require businesses allow their employees to earn paid sick time. This common sense legislation allows employees who get sick the time to recover without fear of retaliation, and it helps protect co-workers from being exposed to others’ illnesses. In light of the H1N1 crisis, this is particularly important. Healthy workers help make strong businesses.

Wellness: Wellness programs for workers are an innovative idea that everyone can benefit from. Successful programs include incentives to improve one’s health, through means such as quitting smoking, losing weight, and better-managing chronic conditions. This past session, I led the effort to create wellness incentives for Maine state employees. As Governor, I will continue to make sure our state workers have the right incentives to help bring health care costs down, resulting in a healthier, more productive workforce.

Transparency: The Legislature this year passed a groundbreaking Patient’s Bill of Rights that, amongst other things, gives consumers greater information about what each health insurance policy they can pay for will provide to them. This kind of transparency in costs, both for insurance policies and care provided, is crucial to consumers. Better information results in better-informed choices, meaning that consumers will drive the market towards policies that work better for them, their families, and their businesses.

Innovation: Innovation is essential to bringing down costs and improving the overall quality of health care. We also have already made strides at reducing overall costs, through progressive programs such as the Patient Centered Medical Home. These efforts need to be built upon and strengthened.

Maine is also leading the way with the successful HealthInfoNet, and is about to become one of the first states to adopt a statewide health information exchange. This voluntary, independently managed, non-profit exchange helps providers communicate and collaborate, and helps prevent or slow the spread of disease. The Maine Quality Forum, a division of DirigoHealth, collects research and promotes best practices in the medical field.

As Governor, I will solicit the views and experiences of policy experts, consumers, and providers. We will work to foster innovation at every step to strengthen a system that focuses on positive outcomes for patients at an affordable cost.