Thank you for picking up on my “Dirigo train theme” in Under the Dome (June 22).
At the outset I asked the “engineers” of Dirigo if a similar plan had been “conducted” before, if there was a “model,” and is there a proven “track” record. The answer was no.
The truth is that it has been tried before, in 1994, in Kentucky. It was a disaster!
Hence the reference, “the Kentucky train wreck.”
The combination of community rating, price controls, standardized benefit packages, guaranteed issue and patient access laws wreaked havoc in Kentucky’s health care system.
The Kentucky Department of Insurance defined the “train-wreck”:
1. 45 insurance companies left Kentucky, 2 remained (Maine has 3);
2. Fleeing insurers eliminated competition in the market (ever higher premiums);
3. Kentucky Kare increased 1996 premiums by 28 percent (we’ve recently seen 15-20 percent a year); and
4. The Kentucky Kare insurance fund lost more than $30 million (we just threw $53 million at Dirigo).
A senior Kentucky legislator told us that, in the 20 months before Kentucky Kare crashed, it burned $500 million.
Train wrecks can occur because engineers work up a big head of steam without really knowing what lies on the tracks ahead. That’s what happened in Kentucky and I’m afraid is about to happen here.
We know the correct solution. Those who tried to improve Dirigo by offering suggestions and amendments simply wanted to prevent the Dirigo train wreck.
Unfortunately, the train has left the station.
Rep. Michael Vaughan, Durham
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