PORTLAND (AP) – The state supreme court on Tuesday took up one of the most contentious elements in the governor’s Dirigo Health initiative – assessments made to insurers based on savings created by the Dirigo program.

At issue is a 2005 ruling by Insurance Superintendent Alessandro Iuppa that Dirigo Health Agency initiatives produced savings of $44 million in the first year.

The Maine Association of Health Plans and two other groups that say the figure should be much smaller told the supreme court that the Dirigo panel included categories of savings not envisioned by state lawmakers.

The state contends the Dirigo health agency had some leeway because of its expertise and that it did not overstep its bounds.

Trish Riley, the governor’s top health adviser, said the “aggregate measurable cost savings” concept that’s in dispute will likely be altered by the Legislature this session. But that still leaves two years’ worth of figures in dispute.

In court, lawyer Bruce Gerrity argued on behalf of the appellants that the Dirigo Health Board went too far in deciding what could be included in the savings offset. He said lawmakers intended for it to apply only to savings directly related to the board and to an expansion in MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid program.

Assistant Attorney General William Laubenstein said the Dirigo Board has the expertise to interpret and apply the state law.

Chief Justice Leigh Saufley said the case comes down to “What did the Legislature say and what did it mean by what it said?”

That could be a challenge.

A working group established to study the issue couldn’t agree on what could be included in the aggregate measurable cost savings after more than a half-dozen meetings, and Iuppa declined to address the issue of the Dirigo Board’s interperetation.

For her part, Riley said she looks forward to a ruling by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court to put the matter to rest. “We’ve got to stop suing each other and lobbying against each other and go back to the ground where we started,” she said.