PORTLAND — A Maine nurses group on Monday said President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, which is criticized by conservatives as overreaching, doesn’t go far enough toward universal health coverage. The Maine State Nurses Association held Monday afternoon health screenings and an evening “town hall” event at the First Parish Church on Congress Street in […]
Medicare
Posted inLetters
J. Myrand: Leave Social Security alone
Historically, Democratic leaders have created and defended Social Security and Medicare. In Maine today, 94 percent of senior citizens are receiving Social Security benefits and 99 percent of people over 65 are on Medicare. People have paid into both those programs. They have earned those benefits. There has been a push by some Republicans to […]
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Posted inOur View
Repeating the travesty of AMHI
In January an employee of Riverview Psychiatric Center was attacked by a resident who had been living there for the past seven years under court order, prompting federal regulators to tour the facility in March and again in May. Regulators uncovered dozens of deficiencies, some of which were so serious that the federal government is […]
Posted inBusiness, Maine
Maine hospitals face Medicare penalties for readmissions
List of penalties imposed on Maine hospitals A dozen Maine hospitals face Medicare penalties in round two of the federal government’s push to lower the number of patients who wind up back in the hospital within a month of being discharged. Compared to other states, Maine’s hospitals ranked near the top, at seventh nationally by […]
Posted inOp-Eds
America needs cost-effective universal health care
In recent months, the people of Maine have witnessed activity by many different players in the health care system as Maine moves to implement the Affordable Care Act. We’ve seen Gov. Paul LePage veto the expansion of MaineCare, which will leave 70,000 Mainers without access to health care. We’re watching MaineHealth and Anthem try to […]
Posted inBusiness, Lewiston-Auburn
New health insurance co-op in Lewiston readies for business
LEWISTON — In a traditional insurance company, clients buy insurance. At Maine Community Health Options, they also run the place. MCHO, based in Lewiston, is the state’s first health insurance co-op, a nonprofit governed for and by members. Think credit union — but for health insurance. “The members we have may very well be tomorrow’s […]