Save Dirigo!
Maine health plan under assault from Republicans and insurance companies
Dirigo Health Rally at the State House in Augusta, Maine
I have posted before about what the Dirigo Health program means to me. It's getting even more meaningful, as additional issues have been popping up lately. I can't thank enough Governor Baldacci and everyone who pushed for and everyone who now supports this affordable health insurance program.
But there are dark clouds on the horizon. One of these clouds comes in the form of Maine Republican gubernatorial challenger Peter Mills, who was quoted in November, ``Dirigo was a risky experiment, and it failed,...the proper thing to do is to stop enrollment right now and let this thing wither away''. He's regularly been pounding at it on the campaign trail since.
Well, if Dirigo helps me, it's not a failure to me. And you know what? The plan has paid out very little to me (so far), and it's not exactly cheap. Last year, I ran it up to the deductible of about $1200. But what it does for me is get me into a decent doctor's office. Nobody wants to take new, uninsured patients. Without Dirigo, I never would have gone in for any of the exams and tests I've had that may well be what saves my life in the next few months.
Before Mills and his evidently well-covered Republican friends destroy Dirigo, I think they ought to be forced to seek decent, affordable policies as individuals in this state. Oh, and they are only allowed to have about the state median income (about what we make). Good luck, Repubs.
I'm bristling underneath right now with contempt for these empathy-less Republican attitudes. Instead of trying to help solve the problems, address the extreme greed within the financial investment/acquisition-hungry insurance industry, and improve Dirigo, they want to kill it before it has a chance to succeed. I will do anything necessary to defeat these defeatist insurance-company-friendly political hacks.
I have a short, powerful audio item from the State House rally posted at peacecast.us
