Healthcare (A Preview)

Health care will continue to drag down Maine's economy until we implement a workable solution at the state level to make insurance coverage more affordable-a solution that includes primary care, providing dental coverage and a greater stress on preventative care.

Regardless of what happens in Washington with the current healthcare debate, Maine's next Governor will likely have to take additional action to extend health insurance coverage to the state's uninsured, and bring down high insurance costs, one of the greatest challenges we all face as Mainers. Given our systemic shift to a results oriented approach, careful thought will be given to how we've approached this issue in the past and whether we might be able to do a better job at less cost to taxpayers going forward.

But we won't be able to create a sustainable model of health insurance for Maine without attempting to address some of the root causes of our high health care costs. Maine in 2002 had the 4th highest percentage of people in the nation who died from the four most common chronic diseases we face as a society. All told, these four diseases - cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic lung disease and diabetes - accounted for $2.5 billion per year of health care costs in Maine. However, by making proven measures of prevention, early detection and treatment available to all Mainers we could dramatically reduce the incidence of these chronic diseases and their costs .

I will identify and act on healthcare reform initiatives designed to extend coverage to the uninsured, manage costs and improve outcomes by shifting our healthcare system from a profit-centered to a patient-centered approach. Similarly, I will implement policies that will incentivize and reward healthy habits, preventive care and reduce costly non-critical emergency room visits.

The full "Health Care" Chapter of MAINE RISING is coming soon!