PORTLAND – Democrat Libby Mitchell said Wednesday that health care will be a priority if she is elected governor, and she will take steps to reduce health care inflation in her first six months.

Mitchell, one of five candidates on the Nov. 2 ballot, said she wants to bring together representatives from hospitals and health insurance companies to set a “global budget” that will reduce costs.

“We do that with preventive care,” she said. “We change the system so that doctors can be paid for prevention, not for treating sickness.”

Also, she wants to offer a state wellness tax credit to encourage businesses to provide wellness programs. She said she doesn’t know how much the credit would cost the state.

“We have to put incentives in the right place for people to manage their health,” she said.

One other piece of Mitchell’s plan calls for a review of Medicaid contracts, and timely payments to providers.

Mitchell’s ideas, released at a Democratic Party office in Portland, are the final set in a series of announcements by Mitchell on various policy issues.

All of her opponents have released plans as well, with Republican Paul LePage saying that some Maine mandates must be eased to lower costs. He, too, would promote wellness programs, and he wants to expand access to lower-cost insurance for as long as five years for people who are out of work.

Independent Eliot Cutler says he would work to expand access to preventive care and wellness, set up a system to reward primary care providers who “effectively manage chronic diseases,” and increase the use of technology to improve care and reduce costs, according to a plan posted on his website.

Independent Shawn Moody wants to increase competition, pay off state debts to hospitals and physicians, reduce costs by posting prices where consumers can see them, and create financial incentives for healthy behavior.

And independent Kevin Scott calls for a “Maine Health Care Bond” to provide public money for private companies that control health care costs. He also says that serving healthy food in schools would reduce the cost of health care, according to his website.

Mitchell said action on health care will be “one of the first things I would like to do as governor.”

“It should happen within the first six months,” she said. “The pieces should be put into place. It’s not something we can delay.”

 

MaineToday Media State House Writer Susan Cover can be contacted at 620-7015 or at:

scover@centralmaine.com