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Health care providers already facing fiscal strain say that delays to MaineCare payments would exacerbate the situation and could have impacts on patient care. Ann Woloson, executive director of Consumers for Affordable Health Care, a nonprofit that advocates for the health care rights of Maine people, said Wednesday that the group is worried that delayed payments could result in cuts to services at hospitals and clinics, especially those in rural areas that serve smaller populations and higher percentages of MaineCare patients.
Consumer advocates in Maine said the availability of enhanced subsidies have helped record numbers of people get the health care coverage they need.
Nearly 65,000 Mainers enrolled in health plans this year through the state's online marketplace.
Rachel Collamore, consumer assistance program manager at Augusta-based Consumers for Affordable Health Care, said more people are catching problems early and avoiding trips to the emergency room.
"It means that people who might otherwise kind of roll the dice don't have to anymore," Collamore emphasized. "They can get that security by having a health plan that is more likely to meet their budget and more likely to meet their health care needs."
Enhanced subsidies have cut some premiums, on average, by more than 40%.
Collamore noted open enrollment is closed until November but people can still get coverage if they experience certain "qualifying life events" like getting married or losing an employer-based plan.
The enhanced subsidies will expire at the end of the year unless Congress votes to extend them or make them permanent. Without action, the vast majority of marketplace premium payments will increase, and low-income enrollees will face the biggest premium hikes.
Collamore argued it should concern everyone because "healthy neighbors make good neighbors."
"We know that having access to medications that help you manage chronic conditions," Collamore pointed out. "Even just having access to affordable prenatal care; that those are really, really important and that kind of coverage is really out of reach for some many people if they don't have those tax credits."
Collamore added there are a lot of unknowns, but the Consumers for Affordable Health Care hotline is available for Mainers with questions about their coverage. She encouraged people to contact their elected officials to let them know the importance of keeping the enhanced subsidies in place.
Central Maine Healthcare officials have touted the opportunities the acquisition opens up for it allowing the hospital system to stay financially viable into the future. Central Maine Medical Center, Central Maine Healthcare’s largest hospital, has experienced funding deficits going back several years.
Three important factors
Ann Woloson can think of three reasons to take pause before pushing a large acquisition such as this through without thoroughly considering all options, she said.
She is executive director of Augusta-based Consumers for Affordable Health Care and has been researching the impacts of acquisitions like this on quality of care and affordability nationally.
When looking at hospital mergers or acquisitions, she focuses on three main factors: access to services, quality of care and staffing levels, she said. Those are aspects that can sometimes fall to the wayside after acquisitions and mergers.
There is some data to show that the cost of care tends to rise in hospitals that are taken over by larger systems, she said. In other situations during a takeover of a hospital, she has seen examples of services being interrupted or ended.
“When a for-profit entity is involved with the takeover of a nonprofit health care entity, we’ve seen this in other states, health care costs … rise at a faster pace than they might otherwise,” she said.
