Maine Seeks Health Vendor:

Maine’s Dirigo’ board has voted to seek bidders interested in making its universal health coverage available. The state-private venture is considered the nation’s most far-reaching attempt at universal health care. The program is designed to make coverage available to small businesses, independent entrepreneurs and individuals, all of whom will pay into the program. Dirigo also expands MaineCare — Maine’s Medicaid program — coverage for eligible uninsured residents. The state has set a July 1 target date to sign up its first enrollees but Baldacci recently broadened that to this summer. Dirigo Executive Director Thomas Dunne said the program, dubbed CareWorks, hopes to increase access to health insurance not only through Dirigo but also by stimulating competition among carriers. Dirigo officials have developed what they consider to be a realistic package of prices and products. Some of the sample prices through Dirigo could include monthly premium costs as low as $260 for a single adult and $780 for a family of four, and discounts of up to 40 percent of monthly payments for those under 300 percent of the federal poverty line.