Speaking truth to power

24 hrs, 3 stories 

Portland Press Herald May 2, 2017

LePage administration program inspires key component of ACA replacement plan

Stein said there’s nothing wrong with the structure of a reinsurance program like MGARA, but the key is how well it’s funded.

“In the end, it all comes down to how much money is put in,” Stein said.

MPBN May 2, 2017

GOP’s Revised Health Care Bill Borrows an Idea From Maine

And the invisible high-risk pool, Stein says, is just one small proposal within the larger health bill. 

“There’s nothing inherently wrong with it, but it doesn’t really fix all the other problems of the bill,” he says. 

Stein says those include changes to essential health benefits and cuts to the Medicaid program.

Bangor Daily News May 3, 2017

How a Maine experiment fuels the new GOP bid to replace Obamacare

High-risk pools can work in theory, but only if they’re properly funded, said Mitchell Stein, a health policy expert who worked for the advocacy group Consumers for Affordable Health Care when Maine passed PL 90. They usually aren’t and historically have failed, leaving people with pre-existing conditions facing unaffordable premiums, he said. “It all comes down to money, as it usually does,” Stein said.

Under congressional Republicans’ plan, $110 billion would fund a high-risk pool over 10 years. One study estimates that it would cost at least $178 billion every year to adequately fund it. “The dollar amounts the Republicans are talking about are woefully inadequate chump change,” Stein said.