Reuters story here.

Got this pro-health care reform call yesterday from the DNC asking Mainers to call Rep. Michaud and thank him for his support. Not sure how widely it's being distributed.

Rep. Mike Michaud waited until the day of the vote to declare his final support for the health care reform legislation. From his statement:

The final bill is a vast improvement to the status quo of skyrocketing premiums that millions of families and small businesses currently face. The bill gives patients and doctors more control over health decisions, not insurance companies, and ends practices like denying coverage for pre-existing conditions and dropping patients when they become sick.

While the package that we will vote on tonight is not a cure for every problem plaguing our health care system, it is a huge step in the right direction that we can build on.

"The best sign from this morning's healthcare rally in Portland."
       - Republican gubernatorial candidate Matt Jacobson (via Twitter)

The Market Decisions poll released today has 46% of Mainers sampled opposing the "Obama/Congressional health reform proposal" while 39% support it.

Setting aside for the moment the fact that there isn't a specific proposal to be for or against, the interesting part of this poll is the reason why it seems that Mainers have turned against the kind of reform that may now be considered by Congress.

Using a rather strangely worded question ("The plan could include a government insurance option or it could have the government negotiate with private insurers to have them offer insurance that meets specifications. Which of these two approaches would you prefer?") the survey found that 44% of Mainers support a public option, 28% support greater controls on insurance companies and 4% support both equally. Only 16% are against both kinds of reform.

It seems a significantly larger number of Mainers support a public option than support the current "proposal" and almost all Mainers support at least some reform. It's likely that a significant number of Maine people who now say they don't support the "Obama/Congressional health reform proposal" do so because it doesn't go nearly far enough.

I hope that's made clear in any media coverage of this survey.

The poll also found that 50% of Mainers support government plans covering abortions, with only 36% opposed and that 55% support increased taxes on the wealthy to pay for reform.

The poll sampled 401 Maine residents (not voters) over a period of more than two weeks in late January and early February and is believed to have a 4.9% margin of error, 95 times out of 100.

Both of Maine's Representatives, Chellie Pingree and Mike Michaud have announced their support for the House health care reform bill due to be voted on tonight.

Pingree has always been a champion of real reform. Here are her remarks today from the House floor:

Michaud waited a bit longer to announce his final intentions, but issued a statement today supporting the legislation:

We must come together and get the best possible bill passed so that the Mainers I represent not only have more affordable coverage – but coverage that meets their needs. Later tonight, I will say yes to expanding health care coverage to the thousands of small businesses and people in Maine who do not have it and, to those who do, making it more affordable and better. Today, I will say yes to ending the practice of denying coverage due to preexisting conditions and other abusive insurance industry abuses.

Being able to get quality health care should never be a question for any American. The bill we passed today is a good step forward. It will help make sure that no American goes broke because they get sick or is ever denied coverage. This is an historic day, but more work lies ahead. I look forward to continuing to work toward meaningful reform that is good for Maine.

Not sure how I missed this one last week. Congresswoman Pingree defending a public option in the belly of the beast:

Supporters of health care reform and members of Organizing for America, the SEIU, and AFSCME met at St. Paul's church in Augusta yesterday to combine art and activism and create a giant map of the state of Maine, meant to symbolize our collective experience with the health care system. The plywood outline of the state was quickly covered in pill bottles, hospital bills, hand-written personal stories and other mementos.

The anti-Obama protesters were hilarious. I'm not sure how you're supposed to have a rational public debate when one side is talking about policy and personal experiences and the other side is spinning wild conspiracy theories. (Did you hear about the secret provision in the house bill that will revoke the Third Amendment and allow Obama to quarter Kenyan troops in your house?)

I also enjoyed their chants of "Channel 6 is communist!"

Maine 2nd District Congressman Mike Michaud appears to be out of sync with fellow members of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of conservative Democrats in the House, on the issue of federal health care reform.

The Blue Dogs today sought to limit the bounds of discussion on reform, releasing a memo outlining the conditions under which they would be willing to support new health care legislation.

In particular, the Blue Dogs are seeking to severely limit the size and scope of any public option passed by the House. They are also demanding a "trigger" in the legislation that would delay the implementation of such a plan until private insurers have failed to meet "specific availability and cost targets."

The coalition has 51 members and, if they voted as a block, could potentially side with Republicans to scuttle health reform legislation in the House.

Michaud apparently opposes placing these kinds of limits on the health care debate.

"The congressman believes that we should explore all options with regard to health care reform," said Michaud's Communications Director Ed Gilman by email today. "He worked with the Blue Dogs to encourage the committees to have an open and bipartisan process in the formulation of legislation. He thinks this is too big of an issue to limit debate."

Gilman also pointed to a statement made by Rep. Michaud less than a week ago in which he called a public plan a "major improvement" and stated that he is "committed to a public insurance option."

While these statements leave Michaud with plenty of wiggle room on the details of any government-backed health care option, it's clear that he doesn't currently support the stringent conditions proposed by his fellow Blue Dogs.

In related news, Jason Levesque, an Auburn Republican and owner of a telemarketing management firm, has announced that he will seek the GOP nomination to challenge Michaud for the 2nd District congressional seat in 2010.

The small businesses that make up the backbone of the American economy desperately need better health care options, and a new report released today by the Main Street Alliance says a large majority support a public option and would even be willing to pay more in taxes to get it.

The report looked at small businesses in 12 states including Maine, and some small businesspeople gathered in Augusta today to launch the report and share their own health care stories.

More video:
Dean Powers of the Maine People's Alliance introduces the report
Nicole Witherbee of the Maine Center for Economic Policy
Sheryl Ostrow, owner of Mallard's Crossing in Bangor

John McCain:

Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation.

Sounds like something we hear a lot from certain folks in Maine.

Local organizations that are members of Health Care for America Now, a national group pushing for health care reform, rallied in Augusta yesterday. They quoted a recent report which shows Anthem, the largest health insurance provider in Maine, making profits that have increased by 89% since 2004. Anthem's membership has increased by only 2.4% over the same period.

The opponents of the beverage tax to fund health care initiatives have submitted more than 90,000 signatures to the secretary of state, far surpassing the 55,087 required. This virtually guarantees that the veto will be an option on the ballot in November. Here's the report from WMTW:

The coalition of beverage distributors and business interests spent more than $400,000 and used some rather shady tactics to get their signatures, as Craig Saddlemire from the surprisingly entertaining Maine Video Activists Network explains:

For more info: Health Coverage for Maine