Dirigo savings downgraded
The state's insurance superintendent has lowered the amount of savings attributed to the state's Dirigo Health program last year to $48.7 million, about a third of what the Dirigo agency board claimed in July.
After a round of public hearings, Mila Kofman on Tuesday night downgraded the $149.8 million the Dirigo Health Agency Board of Trustees claimed the program saved Maine's health care system last year to just $48.7 million, according to a press release from Gov. John Baldacci's office. However, that $48.7 million is still nearly 50% greater than the savings determined by Kofman's predecessor in 2006, according to the release. The savings amount is used to determine how much Maine insurance companies will have to pay to support the program, known as the savings offset payment. Voters will decide in November on a proposal to replace the savings offset payment with a new beverage tax.
Kofman, who was appointed as superintendent this year, in August refused requests to recuse herself from the hearings after critics said she was biased in favor of Dirigo. Kofman plans to release a full statement of her findings no later than Sept. 30, according to the Associated Press.
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