Advocacy Briefing: LD 2196 and Upcoming Virtual Town Hall
Given the increased level of activity currently surrounding health care policy in Maine, MDI Hospital’s Legislative Advocacy program is continuing our briefing advisories and alerts. Legislative advisories and alerts are designed to share breaking news and opportunities to advocate with legislators, while offering context on issues central to Maine’s health care landscape. These briefings will continue as needed during this active period.
LD 2196 – Hospital Price and Growth Gaps
LD 2196 would cap commercial hospital payments at 200% of Medicare for PPS hospitals and limit annual commercial growth to approximately 3%. The proposal is estimated to reduce Maine hospital revenue by nearly $1 billion in year one, with additional reductions in subsequent years.
Given that most hospitals operate on margins below 1%, reductions of this magnitude would significantly destabilize Maine’s health care system. Because Maine’s system is highly interconnected, financial instability in one area affects rural hospitals, nursing homes, ambulance services, and workforce pipelines statewide. The impacts of this would cause reduced access to care, including service line reductions, workforce strain, longer emergency department boarding, and increased pressure on behavioral health services.
We encourage you to reach out to your legislators and ask them to oppose LD2196.
Advocacy Town Hall – March 23
We invite you to join us for an Advocacy Town Hall via Zoom on Monday, March 23rd at 4PM to learn more about LD 2196, what it could mean for access to care in our communities, and how you can help ensure lawmakers understand the local impact.
Please fill out this form to register for the Town Hall. Upon completion of the form, you will be given the Zoom details. They will also be emailed out as a reminder to participants day of.
During the Town Hall, we will also provide updates around federal legislation and additional state policy developments related to Certificate of Need (CON), private equity, cybersecurity, and rural transformation initiatives.
As this and other issues develop, we will continue to keep you informed. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or if there are specific issues you would like us to address. Feel free to contact Mariah Cormier at mariah.cormier@mdihospital.org | 207.801.8003.