Maine Commission to Study State-Run Health Program.

A recently created commission is studying proposed legislation that would set up a single-payer, universal insurance plan in Maine--with the state serving as administrator.

If legislation, expected to be debated next spring, is enacted, Maine would be the first state in the nation to have a government-run health plan, said Jon Bolton, a health policy analyst with the Augusta, Maine-based Consumers for Affordable Health Care, which strongly supports such a plan.

"Given what's happening with Maine's health-care system--the private health insurance market is falling apart--it's a good idea," Bolton said.

But Maine's insurance superintendent said that a government-run health plan "isn't practical" for the state.

The number of Maine residents covered by individual health insurance policies has decreased to about 35,000 from 92,000 in 1992, according to the Bureau of Insurance. Recently, rate hikes have ranged from 65% to 149% for individual managed-care coverage.

Insurers have been leaving the state and telling the bureau they need higher premiums to turn a profit. Insurers have blamed the rising costs of hospital and doctor services--and prescription drugs--for driving up prices.

"I don't think Maine is in a position to fund a single-payer, universal health-care system," said Alessandro A. Iuppa, Maine's insurance superintendent. "Under (proposed) legislation, there would be a $3.4 billion price tag in year one--and it covers everything that's deemed 'medically necessary,' except for cosmetic services."

The proposed legislation, he said, does "very little" for cost control.