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MEA Prescription Plan Preserved An initiative by Governor John Baldacci to strip the prescription drug plan out of the MEA Benefits Trust health insurance program has, by agreement with MEA, been withdrawn. During his 2008 State of the State address in January, the Governor had proposed rolling MEA’s program into a state plan in order to reduce the state’s health insurance costs. MEA feared that incorporating the Benefits Trust plan with state employee and University of Maine System plans would work to the disadvantage of educators and not produce the savings envisioned. Shortly after the Governor’s announcement, leaders of MEA and the Benefits Trust met with Governor Baldacci and his staff to oppose the plan and work on alternatives. With the help of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine, MEA reexamined some of the underlying actuarial assumptions and identified savings to help offset the State’s budget deficit. Governor Baldacci withdrew his initiative, saying, "I think the MEA Benefits Trust health care plans are among the best health care plans in the State and I will not do anything that will adversely affect these plans or the thousands of educators and their families who depend upon them for their health care coverage." |