WiseCrone of Chelsea, ME William, sorry if I wasn't clear. I was trying to point out the problems for those who are confined to using the high risk pool, elderly and unhealthy; how costly that can be to the general public in the long run. I used to work for a health care organization and understand the issues quite well.report abuse

William Smith of Winthrop, ME Ms. Crone, you have it backwards. States establish high risk pools to help cover those who are uninsurable of have serious conditions. That way the state and feds can kick in extra funds to make it affordable without completely destroying the free market system that serves the rest of he population well. The high risk pool is for the high risk folks. Not for the young and healthy.report abuse

WiseCrone of Chelsea, ME Joseph Martin and William Smith, you are close to being right. The issue IS the fact that Maine has mandated many types of care be covered and we have what is called community rating. But that's not the complete story.

Having a high risk pool is good for those that are young and healthy. However people who have any chronic disease will not be covered by a high risk pool. People with diabetes, heart conditions, arthritis, and many, many other issues can't get insurance. If you've had treatment for a condition PRIOR to applying for insurance, that issue becomes a pre-existing condition and that condition is excluded from paid treatment options.

People who are not in prime health have to pay extremely high prices. The average person cannot pay for those high costs. So those conditions go untreated. When those conditions reach the stage where it becomes life or death and the person has to go to the ER for treatment, who do you suppose pays for that treatment?

I have diabetes which is under what is called 'tight control', which means it's almost the very best it can be and still be considered diabetic. My blood pressure is good. My cholesterol is great. But I can't get insurance from a carrier unless I work for a large group that has a pre-existing condition waiver. I can't get life insurance for the same reason.

I take very good care of my illness and have no other medical consequences of this disease that I have managed for 20 years now.

You can find cheap insurance coverage but you get what you pay for. It's usually catastrophic insurance and pays only for hospitalization. Everything else is out of pocket.

Be careful with this one. It can easily come back to bite you in the butt.report abuse

Joseph Martin of ME Prior to Guaranteed Issue and Community Rating, Maine had a thriving, very competitive private health insurance market. There were numerous national companies, plus BCBS of Maine, competing for business here.

THEN the wise Democrats in Augusta decided it was time to "HELP" - and we can see what happened!

The other companies left the state; BCBS of Maine nearly went under and was bailed out when Anthem bought what was left.

The mess of today is a straight-line, direct result of the liberals' plans to "HELP."

Now all the liberals can think to do is run scatter-attacks, and whine about how much some executives make - but that's simply a diversion. Profits and well-paid executives are literally PENNIES in this equation. Pennies!

The liberals in Augusta have only themselves to blame - and they know it. Problem is, to put through any meaningful, effective CHANGE, these liberal sociopaths would have to admit that THEY caused the problem in the first place.

And they're not about to do that!report abuse