AUGUSTA – A legislative committee rolled up its sleeves Tuesday for what members said could be weeks of work on a proposal to allow small businesses and self-employed individuals to buy into Medicaid coverage.

The Banking and Insurance Committee began its work sessions by listening to its own legislative analyst describe the features of the bill proposed by House Speaker Michael V. Saxl, D-Portland. Members suggested they have many questions about the bill and relayed requests for more information to proponents and to the committee’s analyst.

“This is really our big bill this session, so we do have a couple of weeks to work on it,” said the panel’s Senate chairman, Lloyd LaFountain, D-Biddeford.

Saxl introduced the bill to help small businesses and self-employed people who are finding health insurance unaffordable. It would help about 16,000 people.

In 1999, the percentage of small businesses with 50 or fewer employees offering health care coverage dropped from 77 percent to 68 percent, Saxl said last week. With more rate hikes anticipated, more can be expected to drop coverage soon.

Saxl would create a state-sponsored insurance pool that would fund health plans for small businesses and self-employed people who choose to participate. It would be funded by Medicaid and employer contributions, which would be mandatory. The state’s share would be covered through reduced premiums, he said.

The bill would seek a federal waiver to allow small businesses to buy into Medicaid coverage. It would also:

. Create a public board to oversee the plan.

. Offer employers a negotiated fixed-fee schedule for some medical services that keep costs down.

. Pull down federal matching funds for the portion paid for through the state by employer premiums.

Mary Mayhew, vice president of government affairs for the Maine Hospital Association, said the bill seems unnecessarily complicated for what it is trying to accomplish. A plan implemented in Massachusetts that was used as a basis for portions of the bill is much simpler, she said.

Mayhew said she thinks there is support in the Legislature for the idea.

In a bill expanding Medicaid coverage last year, Saxl withdrew the provisions for allowing small businesses to buy into Medicaid after a veto threat from Gov. Angus King.

King has proposed delaying other portions of the original Medicaid expansion bill in order to meet budget concerns this year.