By Bonnie Washuk,Staff Writer

AUGUSTA – The day after Republican candidate Peter Cianchette said that if he is elected governor, he’d disband DirigoChoice, Democratic Gov. John Baldacci observed Dirigo’s second anniversary by announcing a new program.

The Safety Star certificate will be awarded to hospitals that take certain steps to reduce medical errors.

Hospital-based mistakes are the eighth-leading cause of death in the United States, Baldacci said. More people die from that than breast cancer, AIDS or motor vehicle accidents.

Last year in Maine, 15 people died from medical errors. Most of those deaths stemmed from inadequately trained staff or poor communication, said Dr. Dennis Schubert of Bangor.

Maine has good hospital safety records, but all hospitals can improve, said Dr. Robert McAffee, a past president of the American Medical Association who also attended a State House news conference Wednesday. All of Maine’s 39 hospitals will be invited to apply for a Safety Star award. If they achieve standard steps to reduce errors, they’ll be given the award next year, Schubert said. Consumers will be encouraged to ask their hospitals if they have a Safety Star certificate, Schubert said.

Doctors laud Dirigo

While Cianchette maintained Tuesday that there’s no evidence that Dirigo is working, McAffee insisted Dirigo is a success. “You won’t hear from any physicians in Maine that Dirigo’s a bad plan, said McAffee. “From the medical fraternity, it’s been a huge success,” he said. McAffee chairs the Dirigo board.

Baldacci announced Wednesday that more than 8,100 people representing 650 small businesses and 1,300 self-employed workers are enrolled in DirigoChoice.

Dirigo’s biggest critics are Republicans and the Maine Heritage Policy Center, a conservative think tank. On the center’s online “Dirigo Watch” page, it states that DirigoChoice buyers are wary. The plan has excessive costs, complexities, information-reporting requirements and 24 different plans. Disappointing sales show Mainers are skeptical about DirigoChoice, the policy center asserts.

McAffee disagreed. Dirigo is reducing debt that hospitals and doctors used to carry and would then have to shift to all Mainers.

Thirty percent of debt from people who can’t pay their medical bills is from those who are underinsured, or have catastrophic coverage with $5,000 annual deductibles, he said. That means care is inadequate because consumers have to pay premiums and pay out of pocket when they see a provider, McAffee said.

Because hospitals and doctors are getting paid for services to Dirigo members, they no longer have to shift the costs of those unpaid bills, McAffee said. That’s producing “substantial” savings “in the millions of dollars.” How much is being determined.

Once that figure is known, the next step is to ask insurance companies to pass that savings on to consumers, McAffee said.

Dirigo is financially solid, McAffee said, adding that charges that Dirigo has spent $53 million are false. Of the $53 million in state funding, Dirigo has $40 million, he said.