Although disappointed his bill, LD 290, an act that would allow Maine residents to purchase health insurance outside the State was rejected in the House 82-63 on May 13, Rep. Jon McKane (R-Newcastle), said the proposal, is down, but not out.
“It’s not dead yet – it’s still on life support,” McKane said with a chuckle, and then said seriously, “I am cautiously optimistic.”
McKane is proud however about the bill’s widespread support. “We have some pretty powerful co-sponsors,” he said of Majority Whip Sen. Lisa Marrache (D-Waterville), and Bill Diamond (D-Windham).
“It is a great idea,” McKane said. “There just wasn’t enough on our side. It was very organized on the other side.”
McKane referred to the collective opponents of the bill, Consumers for Affordable Healthcare; “big, powerful Anthem, and even the Bureau of Insurance, are all basically the status quo.”
The vote ran largely down party lines, although 10 Democrats and one independent joined with the Republicans in support of the bill.
Two Lincoln County Democrats voted “likely not to pass” Rep. Wendy Pieh (D-Bremen), and Bruce MacDonald (D-Boothbay). Lisa Miller (D-Somerville) did not vote on the bill.
“I voted “no” on that bill; it is one of these things that sound good, and wouldn’t work at all,” MacDonald said.
Saying that no state in the nation allows, “what this bill is calling for,” MacDonald is fearful that without any national standards, (each state has its own consumer protection laws) should a consumer who purchased insurance out of state become ill, “they might or might not pay the bill.”
According to MacDonald, the insurance industry is highly regulated because of past abuses, and every state has crafted their own consumer protections.
“Here’s what would happen,” MacDonald said, “The out of state insurer would cherry pick those to cover, offering low cost products to all well people, those age 20, or 30 for example.”
MacDonald then believes the older and sicker Mainers would be refused insurance. He said other states may not have the same consumer protections that Maine does for pre-existing conditions and, “In my view, we would be cherry picked.”
“The Maine insurance market would be worse off with higher costs for those stranded and left in the older, and sicker pool and all the profitable customers would be pulled out of state,” he said. “That’s why I voted against it.”
MacDonald believes McKane’s proposal sounds good, but national standards are needed to protect consumers from getting insurance that really doesn’t work. He said, “The devil is in the details about exclusion and people have been burned time and time again. They thought they were getting coverage, and when they aren’t, they need to be able to go to a consumer protection board.”
Bottom line, MacDonald said, “Nobody else is doing this, there must be a reason. Nobody allows this buying insurance across state lines.”
He said there is support for the concept, for allowing competition, which he strongly supports. “But, it appears to be competitively low prices without adequate protections for consumers…it would be a race to the bottom. The states that have the least protections would be trying to draw the most customers by offering the healthiest the lowest prices.”
According to a statement by Leader of the House Republicans, Rep. Josh Hardy, the Democrats had no legitimate arguments against the bill. “This was all about common sense, expanding choice and saving people money,” McKane said. “For years now, we have offered solutions to Maine’s health insurance fiasco, and the Democrats have blocked every single one. They seem determined to keep Mainers shackled to a failed system.”
According to McKane, the opposition’s big argument was the lack of consumer protection. “That’s absurd,” he said. “There’s an AG [attorney general] in every state, and consumer laws. Another argument from the other side is that an out of state insurance company would ‘cherry pick’ and cover only the healthy. That’s a red herring.”
Though McKane believes he won all such arguments on the House floor, “they created just enough fear, uncertainty, and doubt that they [Democrats] didn’t dare go along with it. There is a little bit of hope if it passes in the Senate, but we have powerful opposition in the House. We did have 10 Dems join us and that’s good to see.”
Also during the floor debate, Rep. Kerri Prescott (R-Topsham) said constituents want choice. “Mainers do not want to be held hostage to a system they can’t afford. Insurance premiums here can be more than mortgage payments.”
McKane said the next step for the bill is a debate in the senate. “I’m thinking that could happen possibly this week, or even possibly tomorrow [May 20], but, they [the Senate] can take it off and table it at any time.”
One great impetus for McKane sponsoring the bill is his continuing concern over the affordability of health insurance in Maine. “Our over-regulated health insurance market has simply priced coverage out of reach for the average working family. Mainers pay a higher percentage of their incomes for health insurance than anybody else,” he said.
Quoting a recent WGAN poll, McKane said, “It’s an 87 percent issue. That means that 87 percent of people want to be able to buy health insurance out of state, and that’s from people at all levels, left, right, and in the middle.”
McKane also believes a sticking point might be the promise from Washington about universal health insurance.
However, McKane wonders why it isn’t possible to have both? If universal health insurance is coming in the future, why not have an interim plan, or at least a competitive plan that saves Mainers money?
“We in Augusta have health insurance through the state, and it is Cadillac coverage. It is pretty easy then to sit back and say the coverage from the Fed is coming,” McKane said.
