Single-Payer System Could Save Maine Nearly $1B, Preliminary Report Says

Implementing a single-payer health care system in Maine could save the state nearly $1 billion by 2008, a preliminary report released Jan. 31 by a state legislative panel has found, the Portland Press Herald reports. The 19-member Health Care System and Health Security Board, which includes representatives from business groups, hospitals, insurance companies, labor unions and both major political parties, was created in 2001 by the state Legislature to determine the feasibility of a single-payer system. Once its work is complete, the board is not expected to fully endorse a single-payer system, the Press Herald reports. According to a report analysis conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, total health care spending in Maine is expected to rise to almost $8.4 billion by 2004, 37% higher than 2000. However, Mathematica analysts found that a single-payer system could save the state money in part by "slashing" administrative costs. Under a single-payer system, all state residents would be covered by a "standard benefit plan" administered and paid for by the state or a contractor for the state. Businesses and their employees would no longer pay health insurance premiums; instead, employers would contribute a payroll tax, partly funded by their employees. State residents would be required to pay copayments for care and medications. The report says that under the "most practical benefit plan," a single-payer system would require $50-per-day copays for hospital stays, cap annual expenses for families at $2,000 and provide free preventive care. Residents who lost their jobs would continue to receive coverage. In addition, the state could negotiate with drug makers for discounts on medications. Bill Cohen, a spokesperson for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, said insurers in the state would rather see more incremental reforms than implementing a single-payer system. Former state Rep. Paul Volenik (D), who co-chairs the board, said that the board will ask the Legislature to allow it to continue investigating the single-payer system and to devise a more detailed plan (Bell, Portland Press Herald, 1/30).

A Web cast of a Physicians for a National Health Program briefing on a single-payer proposal is available online at kaisernetwork.org.