Weekly Radio Address: Alfond says: Any plan to pay off hospital debt should also address the cost drivers contributing to our pricey bills
Weekly Radio Address: Senate President Justin Alfond
Good Morning. This is Senate President Justin Alfond of Portland.
Earlier this week, Democrats announced a plan for hospital repayment and hospital reform.
We believe the two go hand in hand: We must pay our bills—and also, address the high cost of health care. To do one, without the other, would be neglecting how we got here in the first place.
To be clear, Democrats have always been committed to paying the hospitals. However, in spite of Democrats’ efforts, the issue of paying back the hospitals has been a political football— one used as a political wedge by many Republicans.
For ten years, Democrats have led on repaying the state’s debt to our hospitals–even during our nation’s worst recession. We know our job is not yet done and we must make this final payment. As we’ve said, it’s our obligation.
So while we share the Governor’s sense of urgency to pay back the hospitals, we believe there must be a choice for lawmakers and Maine people.
Democrats have laid out an alternative. Our plan commits to a swift, upfront payment-in-full to our hospitals—putting to rest our debt obligation by September 30th of this year. It’s a plan that is straightforward and doesn’t assume any risk for the people of Maine.
But we know this issue is not just about debt, It’s also about high health care costs. And any plan to pay off debt to the hospitals, should also address the cost drivers contributing to our pricey bills. It is because of this, that Democrats propose not only repaying our hospitals but also reforming our health care system. We simply can’t let this happen again
Looking ahead, we must have sustainable healthcare solutions to stop the cycle of debt. And, we can achieve this by focusing on three areas of reform.
First, we must empower people to be responsible consumers of their health care. The first step to doing this is providing transparency in all medical billing. It’s not a hard concept: Mainers need to know what’s in our bills. It makes common sense that if we’re being asked to pay for something we should understand exactly what we’re paying for and why.
Second, we must address why health care providers throughout the state are compensated at drastically different rates for the same service. For example, if I need an MRI on my foot in Portland, it costs approximately $1,500. The same MRI procedure in Houlton costs around $4,000. This has to change. Maine must become serious about driving down the cost of health care.
Lastly, we know that the strategies of the last couple of years have not worked. Simply cutting people from healthcare does not save money. In fact, medical costs continue rising.
Instead, we must take advantage of the opportunity to insure more Mainers. We have an opportunity to make sure up to 70,000 more Maine people will have a doctor. To do so, we have to accept the federal dollars ready and waiting for us as provided by the Affordable Care Act. If we don’t, those dollars will go to other states. And an opportunity will be missed.
We’ve seen state after state across our country, including states with Republican governors, put politics aside to do what’s right for the people in their states. We must follow their lead and accept these federal dollars
Refusing hundreds of millions of dollars to insure 70,000 Mainers would be fiscally irresponsible and morally wrong.
Now is the time to act. It’s the time to pay back our hospitals. It’s time to give those tens of thousands of Maine people who can’t afford to get the medical care they need, the health insurance they deserve; and it’s time to know what we’re being asked to pay for.
Democrats have a plan. Now we have to get it done. But we can’t do it alone. We need to continue the good work that is being done in the Legislature. Work that requires all of us, regardless of party, to come together and solve the challenges before us.
Democrats, Republicans and the Governor must all work together. The people of our great state deserve a government that works on the many challenges faced by our state.
Thank you for listening. This is Senate President Justin Alfond of Portland. Have a great weekend.
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