It was alarming to read of the precarious financial situation that Maine hospitals are in (April 9). This is truly a crisis, and the Legislature must step in and take action.

Now would be an excellent time to give serious consideration to adopting the All Maine Health Program (AMHP), a plan developed by a committee of Maine AllCare to bring publicly funded, privately delivered health care to all Maine residents. It is the basis of legislation that has been introduced in the current session of the Legislature.

According to the AMHP, institutional care providers such as hospitals would be funded by the government according to global budgets negotiated each year based on prior years’ experience. One of the benefits to hospitals would be certainty on the revenue side.

On the cost side, there would be significant reductions in administrative expenses. There would no longer be itemized billing for individual hospital stays or emergency room visits. And, hospitals would no longer be obligated to serve patients without insurance because there would no longer be any patients without insurance. I hope that hospital administrators will have a serious look at the AMHP and consider carefully the advantages to their organizations of supporting its adoption.

Maine AllCare is a nonprofit that promotes the establishment of publicly funded health care coverage for all Maine residents. Readers wishing to know more about the legislation can find a number of documents describing it on the organization’s website.

Michael Bacon
Westbrook