Maine citizens are in a crisis in their inability to pay for health care.

One in six people have no health insurance. Here in western rural Maine the rate of uninsured is high. Many have steady jobs but cannot afford health insurance. Some have insurance only for catastrophes. Many are forced to choose between health care and food.

As owner of Northern Pines Conference Center and Health Retreat for 21 years, I was unable to afford health insurance for my hard working staff. Many of them used preventative medicine lifestyles. Almost no one smoked. They ate healthy food and exercised. But almost no one could afford health insurance.

They used the emergency room for health needs, from a sprained ankle to post-delivery services for the birth of a baby! This is not the way to best help employees nor keep down health costs. We had no Dirigo Health available.

Gov. Baldacci is giving us a practical proposal in Dirigo Health. Sure, we have questions about effects on us, our hospitals and on physicians. This is the time to ask and get answers!

To delay starting Dirigo Health or to give up because it doesn’t quite fit my idea would be a loss for all Mainers.

Let us take the proposal and make it work for Maine people!

Marlee Turner, Brownfield