SunJournal.com - State: Dirigo saves $150M


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Posted By:Joe at July 25, 2008 6:01 AM (Suggest Removal)
Does the state think were stupid? This is a lie.

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Posted By:Govt2Big at July 25, 2008 6:11 AM (Suggest Removal)
What are the chances our "state leaders" can actually prove this PR statement/claim? It's time for these games to stop! Perhaps it's time for a Boston Tea Party along our shores of the Kennebec River in Augusta?

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Posted By:Kate at July 25, 2008 6:34 AM (Suggest Removal)
This is just more smoke and mirrors. I have to wonder, when will the citizens of Maine clean house??

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Posted By:DJ at July 25, 2008 6:48 AM (Suggest Removal)
This looks like more "creative accounting" which was used to say the state has a surplus. In reality the state didn't pay its bills to make it look like a surplus. This savings sounds a lot like the supposed surplus. Baldacci will do anything to prove that Dirigo isn't a monumental disaster. It hasn't lower costs, there are only between 12,000 & 18,000 people enrolled and enrollment is now closed. What ever happened to insuring everyone that wasn't covered? Instead they allowed people who already had insurance to join. The governor and the democrats in Augusta continue to support this terrible program and don't care how they pay for it which includes raising taxes on everyone's health insurance claims.

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Posted By:JM at July 25, 2008 7:17 AM (Suggest Removal)
what a pile of horse feces, sun journal how come you publish this without the facts!! shame on you. thank you DJ, you are right, it is closed and who is this stupid program saving money for?

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Posted By:Jen at July 25, 2008 8:07 AM (Suggest Removal)
If it weren't for the offset payments from insurance companies across the state, Dirigo wouldn't be where it is today. And yes, these offset payments are passed on to you, the insureds!! Maybe these payments should cease...Dirigo can handle their own! (ya right!)

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Posted By:justin at July 25, 2008 8:35 AM (Suggest Removal)
What does the state think we are a bunch of morons. Compared to the old program, if it is saving the state so much money then why did they have to put a Soda Tax to help pay for it? Another lie by the Gov!

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Posted By:Naran at July 25, 2008 9:37 AM (Suggest Removal)
I couldn't stop laughing long enough to read the complete article. HA HA HA. "Yes, folks - we here at DHECTA (Dirigo Health and Endless Citizen Tax Appropriations) have SAVED you money, because we've SPENT your money. Yes, it's true - the more money we SPEND, the more money you SAVE! Why, by this time next year, we'll have SPENT so much you'll all be able to quit work, stay home, and have FREE health care! FREE! FREE! FREE! Now, put your HAND on the TELEVISION, and empty your WALLET!" Any claims of "savings" from Dirigo are nothing but pure yardgoods from the "State Endless Taxation PR Department." I am delighted to see that so many agree it's nothing but unadulterated codswallop. - Naran Row-Spaulding, Kennebunk

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Posted By:BEN HARRISON at July 25, 2008 10:46 AM (Suggest Removal)
Article should read State did waste an additional 150Mil on Dirigo!!!!! No savings here!!! Tax and spend Democrates at it again!!! Taxing the middle class to DEATH to support people who are either to Stupid or to Lazy to take care of themselves, Some American Dream!!! Bust your hump paying for everyone else or go on welfare and stay home all day playing XBOX!! HMMM wonder why it's so hard to get these bums off the system!! Retire at 20 and sponge off the system your whole life or work like a dog until your 80!!!! Maybe I am the stupid one for working so hard!!!!

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Posted By:horsefeathers at July 25, 2008 11:36 AM (Suggest Removal)
Since the failed Dirigo has cost taxpayers 100 million already, Dirigo should go down in history as another "death tax" on the working taxpayers in Maine. No one regardless of his ability to pay is turned away from any hospital in Maine. Hospitals deserve to be paid the entire 300 million or is it 400 million that is owed to them immediately.

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Posted By:ConcernedCommunityMember at July 25, 2008 11:44 AM (Suggest Removal)
If this IS true...why isn't the state paying the payments to the hospitals they are behind in???

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Posted By:Naran at July 25, 2008 12:08 PM (Suggest Removal)
Amen, again. The state owes Maine hospitals about 600 MILLION DOLLARS. That's why they can claim the fictitious "surplus" on this year's budget. If I quit paying all MY bills, I'd quickly have a "surplus," too. I'd also, however, be in court pretty quick, since only Government can get away with stiffing their creditors. What a bunch of liars and prevaricators dwell under the Golden Dome.

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Posted By:Michael Dumas at July 25, 2008 12:20 PM (Suggest Removal)
Tomorrow's headline: Pigs fly; Satan mired in deep freeze. :)

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Posted By:peter at July 25, 2008 12:22 PM (Suggest Removal)
Lets see if I get this.What is the administration costs and each individuals salaries(How many are there?)?Would Trish Riley & the gov switch their states health (BC/BS) for this get program they greatly promot?I hope Dirigo has a better software program than Medicaid ( a disaster or coverup?).Could Trish Riley explain in concrete terms @ $150mil savings like a CEO would to its shareholders--because as a Maine taxpayor and not the sharpest knife in the drawer--I don't get it--THE SPIN!!

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Posted By:Naran at July 25, 2008 12:23 PM (Suggest Removal)
Not to mention, the unfunded Maine State employee pension plans will somehow miraculously be paid up - all $6 BILLION DOLLARS plus. But, please, Gov. Baldacci - keep right on telling us how wonderfully this state's economy is doing. We love being lied to.

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Posted By:Chris (Brunswick) at July 25, 2008 12:30 PM
Please support the repeal of Hannah Pingree's new hidden Dirigo taxes. We cannot afford top-dollar medical reimbursements for low-income subscribers to Dirigo, which pays medical providers the same high rates that private health insurance pays them. Medical providers like the Maine Medical Association get considerably less for treating patients on federal programs such as Medicare, the VA or Medicaid. That's why the Maine Medical Association is so desperate to keep their Dirigo "paydays," courtesy of the Dirigo hidden taxes. Currently the hidden Dirigo tax on health insurance claims changes each year based on a process comprised of claims from the Dirigo board about "savings", which they allege that health insurance subscribers "owe" them. These wild claims are then moderated by the Commissioner of Insurance to come up with the final hidden Dirigo tax rate on health insurance claims. Currently the hidden Dirigo tax on health insurance claims is 1.7%. This year Hannah Pingree pushed though a law to substantially increase hidden Dirigo taxes with new taxes on wine, beer and beverages. The law also fixed the hidden tax on health insurance claims at 1.8%. However it failed to address the scam that medical providers are receiving top-dollar to treat low-income residents subscribed to Dirigo, all paid for by the taxpayers. No wonder the Maine Medical Association, dependent on the scandalously high medical reimbursement rates that Dirigo pays them, are trying to block the repeal of Pingree's hidden taxes.

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Posted By:Hymn at July 25, 2008 1:14 PM (Suggest Removal)
Horsefeathers..No one regardless of his ability to pay is turned away from any hospital in Maine. Sure for a one time thing but if you have to deal with weekly visits to a doctor your out. ER will not deal with day to day upkeep stuff. Dont get me wrong I am not on the Dirigo side. Just get tired of people saying that the ER will be there for ya.

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Posted By:ConcernedCommunityMember at July 25, 2008 2:28 PM (Suggest Removal)
Dear Hymn - You need to work as a nurse in the Emergency Room......the stuff we treat and cannot "by Law" turn away is rediculous...like Maine Care patients who present with "Abdominal pain" only in the end looking for a pregnancy test....stuff like this. As a nurse, I'm sick of this...especially where I just had to cancel my health insurance because I can't afford the premiums and large deductibles. People who support Dirigo and Maine Care - go screw!

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Posted By:Hymn at July 25, 2008 2:48 PM (Suggest Removal)
CCM I feel for ya.. But your not the only one that is hurt by the combo of high copay and deductibles. All of us working stiffs are in the same boat. We need a all hour clinic to triage the little stuff. The ones that need to go screw as you say are the insurance board in Augusta. I still say the ER is not there for ya for all stuff.. It is a ER not a PCP. But if you dont have a PCP you go to the ER to get looked at. Then if you need weekly visits to a doc your out of luck.

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Posted By:Garrett at July 25, 2008 2:56 PM (Suggest Removal)
LOLOL, I want to meet someone who really believes this article....so I can slap them. =P

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Posted By:Robert61 at July 25, 2008 3:00 PM (Suggest Removal)
But then again, using the states gifted accountants I might too be a millionaire. Calling it creative accounting is the biggest understatement I've seen in a long time.

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Posted By:Naran at July 25, 2008 3:07 PM (Suggest Removal)
Reminds me of that great bumpersticker - "Don't Steal; The Government Hates Competition." LOL

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Posted By:Dr. Hassan Bin Sobah at July 25, 2008 4:41 PM (Suggest Removal)
The savings is absolute baloney. Trish Riley and high paid cabal showed up with a list that totaled $190 million saved. The board cut $40 million out. That raises red flags right there. I would be embarrassed to put this stuff out there to the public if I were Baldacci or Riley. And I would be mortified if I were the Sun-Journal to let this stuff be printed without challenging the politicians and bureaucrats living off this sham.

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Posted By:ConcernedCommunityMember at July 25, 2008 4:44 PM (Suggest Removal)
Dear Hymn - The ER is not the PCP...I think what you and I are ultimately saying is the same thing. What I would add is that those on Maine Care and Dirigo should be assigned PCP's (if they don't have one already) when given their free health insurance and have to call in and ask for referral to ER and Specialists - just like HMO plans. I'm sick of working my butt off to pay for all those entitlement programs that I can't access and don't qualify for.

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Posted By:Michael Dumas at July 25, 2008 4:49 PM (Suggest Removal)
IV, that's why the SJ uses that nifty little trick to CYA. Notice how the headline begins, "State:" Heck, with claims like that, I'd use that trick too!

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Posted By:John in Auburn at July 25, 2008 9:56 PM (Suggest Removal)
Yeah, and I 'saved' $5 today by not playing a lottery ticket. Now, the State should reimburse me for the savings !

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Posted By:Steve at July 29, 2008 8:11 AM (Suggest Removal)
You know what? Maybe it's time we sweep the floor and get rid of all the dirt in our public offices. A new breed of people to run our Government is desparately needed. Our Govenor doesn't have a clue, our Senators are collecting paychecks off of our hard working backs and we have nothing to show for it except a national run away deficit, a state insurance program (Dirigo)that is a joke, and a state that is over taxing it's citizens and causing small businesses to close or move to another state. Time to say goodbye to Baldacci, Collins, Snow, and Michaud.

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