Maine health insurance

---

status report:
Maine state health insurance exchange

What progress is being made in setting up its federally-mandated Maine state health insurance exchange?"

About state health insurance exchanges

---

How did Maine officials vote on health reform?

H.R.2: Repealing the Health Care Bill

#14

Date of Vote: 1/19/2011 Status: House passed 245-189, 1 not voting

HOUSE|SENATE

1/19/2011--Passed House amended. Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act - Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, effective as of its enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by such Act. Repeals the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective as of the Act's enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by the Act's health care provisions. [more]

Our
Pick

No (2)

• Michael Michaud

• Chellie Pingree

how healthy is living in Maine?

Maine is ranked as the 8th healthiest state to live in, according to the 2010 edition of America's Health Rankings® by the United Health Foundation, up one spot from its 9th place position in 2009.

The good news:

• Maine has the lowest violent crime rate in the country, with only 120 offenses for every 100,000 individuals of the population.
• The state has a low percentage of uninsured individuals in the population, as well as an increasing level of public health care funding, which is up from $61 per person a year ago to $81 per person.
• In the past five to 10 years, Maine has seen a decrease in both prevalence of smoking and in deaths due to cardiovascular disease.
• Additionally, Maine has a low rate of infectious disease (6.1 cases per 100,000 of the population) and a low geographic disparity (7.8 percent).

The bad news:

• Maine's biggest challenge is its high rate of deaths due to cancer, at 210.4 deaths per 100,000 members of the population.
• The prevalence of obesity has increased in Maine over the past 10 years from 12.2 percent of the overall population to 26.4 percent.

Maine's best and worst category rankings:

• Violent crime – 1st
• Early prenatal care – 5th
• Uninsured population (10.3 percent) – 6th
• Prevalence of binge drinking – 25th
• Immunization coverage – 25th
• Deaths due to cancer – 43rd

more details

• See the United Health Foundation's latest findings on Maine.
• Trust for America's Health ia another source for key Maine health quality findings. In addition, 2010's federal health reform, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), included the creation of a prevention fund to provide more than $16 billion over the next 10 years to invest in effective, proven prevention efforts, like childhood obesity prevention and tobacco cessation, and the site has a report on how it impacts Maine here.

get local health results

State snapshot too large? Get county-by-county health rankings for Maine, from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Population Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin.

does Maine have a health insurance high risk pool?

El estado de Maine no tiene la necesidad de ofrecer planes de cobertura para “grupos de alto riesgo.” El estado garantiza cobertura de seguro médico, es decir que los residentes de Maine tienen derecho a comprar seguro médico. No se le puede negar cobertura por su estado médico o edad. Sin embargo, es posible que se le imponga un periodo de espera de hasta 12 meses. Pero por ley, no le pueden cobrar más por su prima a resultado de su género o su estado de salud.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Starting in 2010, Maine started offering health care insurance coverage to residents through the federally established temporary high-risk pool program. To find out more about Maine's participation, click here.

Risk pools are state-sponsored programs to help people with a history of medical problems in their family to purchase coverage. These pools are for people who can afford to buy health insurance, but are not able to get underwritten in the private market because of a pre-existing health condition. These programs can vary significantly from state to state in price, benefits and number of people served. Often insurance companies doing business in the state are required to contribute to the pool to keep it in the black. In the best cases, they allow people to be able to switch jobs or become self-employed without the fear of losing their health insurance coverage. Read more about risk pools here.

how to find health insurance in Maine

Cover The Uninsured is a national effort to highlight the fact that too many Americans are living without health insurance and to demand solutions from our nation's leaders. Read more information on its efforts. It is a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

• Cover The Uninsured's facts on the uninsured in Maine and all other states.
• The Foundation for Health Coverage Education's guide on how to find health insurance in Maine.
• Materiales En Español – Guías para encontrar cobertura de seguro de salud.

Georgetown's Maine health insurance guide

Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute has researched and written state-by-state guides for finding and keeping health insurance. It updates these guides as federal and state policies change. A number of non-profit organizations help fund its research. Learn more about the Health Policy Institute.

Review Georgetown's guide for Maine.

Health insurance plan report cards for Maine

The National Committee for Quality Assurance is a private, non-profit organization that, among other things, provides health care plan report cards for consumers.

Go here to search for Maine health insurance plan report cards.

Maine government health insurance resources

Department of Health and Human Services – Page of links to health insurance information, provided by the state of Maine.

Maine's Consumer Guide to Individual Health Insurance – guaranteed-issue individual health insurance is available in Maine from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, MEGA Life & Health Insurance Company, and several health maintenance organizations (HMOs). This guide attempts to help you compare and contrast the options.