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Rep. Fossel Named to Panel to Integrate Health Reform Law

AUGUSTA – State Rep. Les Fossel has been appointed to a legislative committee that will help integrate the new federal health care law into the Maine system. He is one of 12 members of the House named by Speaker Hannah Pingree to the new Joint Select Committee on Health Care Reform Opportunities and Implementation. Five state senators will bring the full complement to 17.

Rep. Fossel (R-Alna) serves on the Legislature’s Insurance and Financial Services (IFS) Committee, which will be integral to making changes to bring the state into line with the new federal rules. Other members of the new select panel serve on committees dealing with health and human services and appropriations.

“The mission is to run a full analysis of the law and figure out the best ways to proceed to help Maine citizens and companies,” said Rep Fossel. “We want to maximize the positive parts of the program, such as tax credits for incorporated small businesses, and minimize the negative parts of the program, such as no credits for unincorporated businesses.

“I was not a big fan of the federal law, because it really does nothing to control the relentless increase in overall health care costs,” he said. “But now that it’s the law of the land, we must use it as a tool to make health care affordable for Mainers.”

As a member of the IFS Committee, Rep. Fossel helped write the original bill that created the joint select committee. That legislation passed unanimously in early April. The committee’s duties include examining the impact of the new federal statute on existing state law and health care programs, with emphasis on the state’s Medicaid program, known as MaineCare.

The panel also will explore opportunities to conduct federally funded pilot projects, including those related to payment reform and use of health care technology. Another duty involves investigating how the federal law affects Maine’s ability to adopt a system of universal care through a single-payer plan, using Medicare or MaineCare as a vehicle.

“I am extremely skeptical that a single payer system will benefit us,” said Rep. Fossel. “Many countries around the world have managed to lower the cost and improve the quality of health care without resorting to a government takeover of medicine. We can do the same.

“The major benefits of the federal law don’t start until 2014,” he added. “I’d like to see us press on with commonsense ideas of our own, such as cutting the administrative cost of health care. Maine health care should not cost almost twice as much as it costs in the second most expensive country in the world. We must demand a good value for our health care dollars. We must improve what Congress has handed us.”

No later than November 3, 2010, the committee must submit a report that includes its findings and recommendations, including suggested legislation, to the First Regular Session of the 125th Legislature, which will be elected November 2.

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