The Commonwealth Fund

Overview

The Dirigo Health Reform Act was developed by the Maine Governor's Office of Health Policy and Finance with significant input from health care policy experts and the Health Action Team (see Appendix A), a group of key stakeholders appointed by Governor John Baldacci. The Reform Act, Public Law 469, was enacted with bipartisan support and a two-thirds majority in each chamber of the Maine Legislature. Governor Baldacci signed the bill into law on June 18, 2003. The purpose of the Reform Act is to make quality, affordable health care available to every Maine citizen within five years and to initiate new processes for containing costs and improving health care quality. A major premise behind the law is that successful health care reform must address cost, quality, and access simultaneously and with equal vigor. The law is built on the assumption that health reform cannot be done in a piecemeal fashion. If attention is paid only to access, costs will increase. If lowering the cost of care is the primary concern, access will be limited. And if quality is the sole focus, people will remain uninsured and costs will remain high.