Staff Writer Penelope Overton’s June 14 article regarding the financial toll of COVID-19 on Maine hospitals raises important questions: Is the current fee-for-service reimbursement model for hospitals working? How heavily should hospital budgets rely on elective surgeries or commercial insurance to cover lower reimbursement from public-sector programs?
These are not new questions. Ten years ago, the passage of the Affordable Care Act encouraged health care systems to move from volume-based to value-based health care. The law’s passage recognized that our country cannot afford to sustain a volume-based health care system.
COVID-19 has brought these questions to light again, and could serve as an inflection point for Maine to reconsider new way to approach health care. Maine is uniquely positioned to make great change. It has strong leadership, a shared interest in pursuing a “north star,” and a community with a history of collaborating to address big challenges.
What a “new way” might look like will require a lot of work by key stakeholders, including not only traditional providers but also the technology and biopharmaceutical companies that have supported Maine’s COVID-19 response. I have no doubt that with the right conversations, more can be done to sustain Maine’s health care infrastructure while serving the needs of Maine’s citizens.
Kristina Lunner
North Yarmouth
Send questions/comments to the editors.
-
Nation & WorldBiden to highlight progress, ask for patience over setbacks, at 4 p.m. address
-
Nation & World
New Hampshire bar worker pins down man who pointed loaded gun at customers
-
South Portland Sentry
Foulmouthed Brewing holds COVID-19 vaccine clinic
-
Times Record
Maine State Ballet presents ‘Tap Tap Jazz’
-
Cops & Courts
Portland police officer charged with assault after on-duty incident in May
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi {SUB NAME}, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have one? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login to participate in the conversation. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.