05/05/2025 - Urgent Advocacy Alert from Gwen Simons
A bill (LD 1785, An Act to Encourage Competition by Requiring Independent Health Care Provider Cost-of-living Adjustments in Health Insurance Contracts) has been introduced in the Maine Legislature. It will require health care carriers (including their Third party provider networks like ASH and OPTUM Health) to give small independent and group practices with 25 or less providers a cost of lining increase in reimbursement each year.
Private practices need this law to survive! We are asking all MEAPTA members to contact their state representative and senator and ask them to vote for this bill.
The bill has been assigned to the Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services ("HCIFS") Committee. It has not been scheduled for a public hearing yet, but we expect it to be scheduled the week of May 12. We need you to call and/or email your representative and senator, especially if they are on the HCIFS committee, as soon as possible. You can find a list of HCIFS committee members at Committees|Maine Legislature.
You can find your state representative and senator at Maine.gov:Government:eDemocracy: Voter Information Lookup.
When the bill is scheduled for a Public Hearing, we will need to line up as many people as possible to testify. Public hearings are usually on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons starting at 1 pm. You can testify in person or via Zoom. Please call Gwen Simons, MEAPTA lobbyist, at (207)205-2045 if you can testify so we can coordinate all testimony for maximum effect.
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