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March 6, 2009 Jay Finegan, 287-1445
Rep. Wes Richardson Named to High-Profile Health Policy Council

AUGUSTA – State Rep. Wes Richardson has been appointed to Maine’s 19-member Advisory Council on Health Systems Development, which has a sweeping mandate to examine virtually all facets of health insurance in the state. Speaker of the House Hannah Pingree made the appointment in late February.

“It’s a challenging assignment, but I look forward to getting started,” said Rep. Richardson (R-Warren), the ranking Republican on the Joint Standing Committee on Insurance and Financial Services. “The cost of health care and health insurance is one of the biggest problems in the state. This council is an official channel to make recommendations to maximize the benefit from our health care dollars.”

The council was established as part of the legislation that created Dirigo Health and has been meeting monthly since 2003. The enabling legislation was amended in 2007, when positions for five legislators were added and the council’s duties were expanded.

The council is charged with an extensive set of duties and responsibilities, mostly to measure the current health care system and find ways to economize. For example, one duty requires the council to conduct a “systematic review of the cost drivers in the state’s health care system, including market failure, supply and demand for services, provider charges and costs, public and commercial payor policies, consumer behavior, cost and pricing of pharmaceuticals and the need for, and availability and cost of, capital equipment and services.”

Another area of responsibility relates to the interactions of health care factors, including “cost shifting among public and private payors and cost shifting to cover uncompensated care to persons unable to pay for items or services, and the effect of these practices on the total cost paid by all payment sources for health care.”

“Health care is one of the most complicated industries in the country,” said Rep. Richardson. “The council has already been working on some major projects. I think my experience on the Insurance and Financial Services Committee will help me get up to speed in a hurry.”

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