Dirigo Health saved Maine’s health care system nearly $150 million last year, according to the governing board of the Dirigo Health Agency.
After two days of hearings, the Dirigo Health Agency Board of Trustees determined the program had saved hospitals and insurance companies $149.8 million, less than the $190 million the agency originally claimed it had saved, but significantly more than the $92 million determined as savings in 2006, according to the Bangor Daily News. The state superintendent of insurance will make the final decision on the amount saved.
The figure will be used to calculate the savings offset payment that Maine insurance companies and their policyholders will have to pay to the agency should the new beverage tax, which was designed to replace the controversial savings offset payment, be overturned by voters in November.
