AUGUSTA (WGME) — A push by lawmakers in Augusta to make health care more affordable went before a public hearing Thursday.
The bill aims not only to cap costs at hospitals but make health care more accessible.
Lawmakers say more than half of Mainers have struggled to pay for basic necessities because of rising health care costs, but major hospitals argue the proposal could rip away access to essential health care services.
“When coverage becomes less affordable, people lose insurance, and when people lose insurance, they delay care,” Rep. Drew Gattine said.
“Hospitals are struggling to stay afloat,” MaineHealth CEO and President Andy Muller said.
Tensions are rising between lawmakers and major health care providers. It all boils down to a bill that primarily strives for affordability.
A push by lawmakers in Augusta to make health care more affordable went before a public hearing Thursday. (WGME)
“Maine people should be able to deserve the health care they need at a fair and responsible price,” Consumers for Affordable Health Care Director of Policy Kate Ende said.
To do so, the Office of Affordable Health Care will cap hospital bills at more than 200 percent of Medicare rates, stop big price jumps at hospitals and make insurance pay at least 110 percent of Medicare rates for regular doctor and mental health visits.
“The problem we are trying to solve is not complicated,” Office of Affordable Health Care Director Meg Garratt-Reed said.
Doctors and leaders from hospitals around the state argue it could complicate Maine’s already fragile health care system.
“It means we will have to substantially reduce our workforce, including doctors and nurses, and we will have to close services, potentially hospitals,” Muller said.
One service at risk of shutting down if the bill passes could be the NICU.
“You would be forcing families to travel out of state during one the most traumatizing times of their life,” Rachel Bicknell, who is against the bill, said.
Bicknell’s newborn was rushed to the NICU and had to undergo an 8-hour open-heart surgery.
A push by lawmakers in Augusta to make health care more affordable went before a public hearing Thursday. (WGME)
“The solution is not to force Maine medical centers to close some of their pediatric services that the tiniest Mainers in the state rely on,” Bicknell said.
Ultimately, the solution will be in the hands of the DHHS Committee to pass the bill onto lawmakers, which if voted on, will be placed on Governor Janet Mills’ desk to officially become law.
If this bill does ultimately pass, these restrictions will be put into effect by 2028.