House Democrats voted in strong opposition along party lines to a last-minute 45-page Republican proposal, LD 1333, to overhaul Maine’s health care laws that would drive up costs for the sickest Maine people, those living in rural areas, and anyone over age 48. Republican lawmakers forced a vote on the measure that was only made public late Wednesday night after 16 additional pages of new language were added to the bill without a public hearing or new committee vote. In fact those lawmakers never read the bill – as documented in this Maine People’s Alliance video.

“We know that lawmakers in Augusta do our best work when we do it together,” said Rep. Emily Cain of Orono, the House Democratic leader. “But how can we work together when there has been a process that only resulted in more questions going unanswered during every step of the debate? We have already proven during this legislative session that we can find bipartisan compromise on two budgets and on regulatory reform. What is the rush?”

Republicans in the House also voted again along partisan lines to block a compromise amendment to LD 1333 offered by Rep. Henry Beck of Waterville, who serves on the Insurance and Financial Services Committee, which makes insurance market reforms while protecting consumers from skyrocketing rate increases.

“Clearly, this was a purely political vote with no room for compromise,” said Rep. Beck. “Our amendment was a bold offer of market reforms. It was an opportunity to make this effort bipartisan, to fix our market, and protect insurance customers.”

The Republican overhaul of health care protections in LD 1333 would allow insurance companies selling individual policies to set rates based on age at up to five times higher than the lowest rate. The rates may vary widely depending on age and smoking status.

State regulations in place for many years now limit the range in policy rates to a 1:1.5 ratio. That means a policy that costs $300 for the lowest-risk policyholder can cost no more than $450 for the highest-risk. This bill would expand the range over time to 1:5, meaning the highest-risk policyholders could be charged as much as $1,500.

Even more troubling to Democrats, there is no upper limit on the rate charged depending on where patients live or their occupation.

“We believe policy should focus on reducing health care costs without rolling back quality and access,” said Rep. Sharon Treat of Hallowell, who is the ranking Democrat on the Insurance Committee. “We don’t want to pick winners and losers. We don’t want to lower the costs for some at the expense of others. We are one state.”

The bill also creates a segregated reinsurance pool that will be paid for with a per-person tax on insurance policies of $4 per month, or $48 per year (a family of four would pay $192 per year). There is no guarantee that it generates enough money to pay for all Maine people needing this insurance.

“How can we be sure that the funding won’t fall short?” said Rep. Treat. “We need to see the numbers to make sure that health insurance premiums won’t be taxed even more or benefits won’t be cut to fit within the budget if the funding is insufficient.”

The proposal also allows for purchases of insurance across state lines without ensuring that consumer protections are in place first, and eliminates the state health plan.

Republican leaders forced votes on LD 1333 without independent fiscal analysis from the Bureau of Insurance. In response to a formal request for information and analysis from Democrats on the Insurance Committee, the Bureau provided analysis from 2007 on a similar but less drastic plan, showing increases of up to 22 percent in the North and in Down East Maine. Maine people who want to keep their current insurance will likely see price increases rise as high as 170 percent, according to the data from the Bureau.

“Consumers – especially those who are older, sick, suffer from chronic illnesses, and/or live in rural Maine – stand to lose the most from this bill,” said Rep. Adam Goode of Bangor. “Insurance companies – both out-of-state and for those currently in Maine – will benefit the most, as policyholders will see their premiums skyrocket.”

Stakeholders, including doctors, hospitals, small businesses, patients and cancer survivors have opposed many of the proposals that appeared in this last-minute bill in the past when they were given time to testify during public hearings.

There will be another reading of the bill on May 10, 2011. The bill faces more votes in the House and Senate before it may become law.