April 8, 2008
Guv, insurer support Dirigo changes
Gov. John Baldacci joined the head of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care yesterday at a press conference in support of a bill to change Dirigo Health funding.
The governor's state-subsidized health insurance plan will run out of money in February 2009 if funding other than the current savings-offset fee to insurers is not found. A bill to fund Dirigo with a 50-cent per pack increase in the cigarette tax and a flat 1.8% assessment on insurance claims is expected to pass in the Democrat-heavy House but be challenged in the Senate, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by only one person, according to the Portland Press Herald. Democratic Sen. Nancy Sullivan is opposing the bill because of the cigarette tax increase.
The legislation, LD 2247, is designed to rescue the health insurance program run by Dirigo and administered by Harvard Pilgrim, DirigoChoice, which currently covers about 13,000 Mainers, the paper reported.
The governor's state-subsidized health insurance plan will run out of money in February 2009 if funding other than the current savings-offset fee to insurers is not found. A bill to fund Dirigo with a 50-cent per pack increase in the cigarette tax and a flat 1.8% assessment on insurance claims is expected to pass in the Democrat-heavy House but be challenged in the Senate, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by only one person, according to the Portland Press Herald. Democratic Sen. Nancy Sullivan is opposing the bill because of the cigarette tax increase.
The legislation, LD 2247, is designed to rescue the health insurance program run by Dirigo and administered by Harvard Pilgrim, DirigoChoice, which currently covers about 13,000 Mainers, the paper reported.
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