HEALTH CARE POLITICS

Gov. Baldacci was forceful last week in response to the possibility that insurers would fail to recoup and pass along savings in the health care system caused by Dirigo Health, which offers coverage to working men and women. But insurance companies themselves are caught between the governor and Republicans who want to kill the program.

The latest reaction to this complicated topic occurred after the superintendent of insurance reviewed in exacting detail the level of savings Dirigo provided to the health system overall – by encouraging hospitals to lower their costs, for instance – and concluded the savings equaled nearly $44 million. That money is to be collected by the insurance companies from health care providers, a negotiation insurers say will be difficult.

Maybe so, but the alternative is to keep insurance prices high without expanding coverage while providers and insurers reap the benefits. That would be nice for them, but would exclude the public. Gov. Baldacci last week properly called that unacceptable. “Now that savings have been achieved,” he said, “they must be delivered to consumers. Consumers must see the results in the health insurance rates they pay.”

Meanwhile, Republicans are trying to turn the public against Dirigo by calling the savings a tax. Remember, without Dirigo there are no savings and rates don’t fall; Insurance Superintendent Al Iuppa attributed to Dirigo only savings that could be shown positively through hearings.

Republican concern is understandable: If Dirigo works, Maine will lower health-care costs and offer improved care through a state-run program, and Democratic Gov. Baldacci will have a lasting legacy. That’s a big problem for his opposition. Since Dirigo was announced, some – certainly not all – members of the GOP have been fearful of such outcomes, afraid of what they would mean for their party. In response, they have bent Dirigo numbers to make the program look expensive and ineffective. For instance, they repeatedly ignore the coverage Dirigo has provided for Maine men and women who have left their more costly insurance and sought better coverage under Dirigo.

That is, thousands of Maine workers have switched to Dirigo, saved themselves money and the Republican Party is angrily opposed. They want to kill the program, leaving these families with something like $10,000 deductibles. Not many families can afford that bill.

And they won’t need to as long as Dirigo is operating. The program isn’t perfect. Like all government services, it needs plenty of oversight and some reforms that will strengthen it for the long term. Ideas from all sides – from the opposition especially – that will do that should be welcomed, but the politics of the situation makes that nearly impossible.

Sure, Dirigo has weaknesses and costs that need to come down further, but those aren’t reasons to kill it. They certainly aren’t reasons to throw thousands of people off this health insurance.