\u201cPlease don\u2019t make me run for governor,\u201d<\/a> challenging the many candidates to declare how they would lead much needed improvements across Maine\u2019s healthcare system.<\/p>\nAfter the op-ed appeared, I had conversations with a number of candidates, across party lines. A constant agreement was on the need for change; some had specific ideas; for others, healthcare reform was a relatively new topic.<\/p>\n
As a reminder, healthcare makes up about a sixth of our economy \u2014 it is big and complicated and
important. The stress of illness is compounded by the stress of an overly expensive and overly complicated system. It is a major pocketbook issue for everyone (except, perhaps, for those taking advantage of the weaknesses and flaws in the current system, making so much more than their counterparts in any other economy of the world).<\/p>\n
We are now down to three candidates, one of whom will be our governor, an elected official having formal legal authority and specific responsibilities defined by law. Based on their declarations to date, not one of the three candidates, in healthcare, is positioning to be a leader, someone who will influence, guide or inspire others to a goal.<\/p>\n
These candidates are citing slogans, declining to dig in and declare what practical
actions they would take to improve the system. They seem to be throwing out umbrella
statements, hoping to appeal to those voters who will hear what they want to hear while avoiding having to make any statements or provide details that might negatively influence possible voters.<\/p>\n
Boiled down, \u201ca public option \u2014 funding reform,\u201d \u201celiminate waste and fraud,\u201d \u201cexpand
telemedicine and deal with medical debt\u201d are at best important but small ideas when
compared to the scale of the reform needed across the system. It is almost as if the
candidates are tip-toeing to get elected and then thinking they will \u201cfigure it out\u201d later.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, this does not give them a mandate to lead, it just makes them an elected official. As a reminder, we are not stuck in the current system. Maine can lead, adopting a system similar to what Maryland has been working on and similar to the underpinnings of most European systems.<\/p>\n
No, it is not \u201csingle-payer.\u201d Rather they treat their healthcare systems for what they basically are \u2014 geographic monopolies that operate primarily under a global budget system. <\/p>\n
There are several ways to fund this type of system (including single-payer). Across the world there are different models to learn from, and to pick from, with an eye to fitting with Maine\u2019s culture and values. There is no perfect solution but there are better options.<\/p>\n
Shifting to this sort of system will require strong leadership. Sadly, unless someone steps up over the next 45 days, the Blaine House will soon have a new elected official but not a leader with a mandate for significant reform of this sector.<\/p>\n
I think Maine voters are ready for major change and crave greater and more detailed communication from those who aspire to lead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tom Dunne of Cape Elizabeth was the first executive director of the Dirigo Health Agency during the administration…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":870046,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":["post-870045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=870045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/870046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}