Guv turns to Obama for Dirigo aid
Gov. John Baldacci intends to seek help for the Dirigo health insurance program from president-elect Barack Obama's administration.
The governor plans to ask the Democratic president-elect, who throughout his campaign said he was open to new approaches to health care, to allow the state to use Medicaid funds to help pay for Dirigo, according to Capitol News Service. A proposed tax on soda, wine and beer that would have helped the program survive was rejected by Maine voters Nov. 4. Karynlee Harrington, head of the Dirigo Health Agency, said in September there is a real risk the state-subsidized health care program cound run out of money if a funding mechanism can't be found.
When the program was passed in 2003, Medicaid matches were part of the funding formula. But under the Bush administration, the federal government rejected the state's efforts to obtain the match, which would have brought in about two federal dollars for every state dollar, the news service reported.
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