1. The Business Case for the Fund for a Healthy Maine
One of the biggest burdens facing Maine businesses is the high cost of health care and health
insurance. In 2008 Maine employers paid an average of $8,700 per year for a family insurance
policy. While certainly a high price at the time, that same policy in 2012 is expected to exceed
$15,000 per year.1 This trajectory of costs is not sustainable for the average business in Maine.
Maine’s economic recovery depends on bringing down the cost of health care, and that’s
what the Fund for a Healthy Maine is designed to do. Maine business leaders consistently
identify lowering health costs as the single most important priority for lawmakers to address in
their efforts to spur new economic growth.2
Every budget must include investments in the future or it will be almost impossible to grow
and prosper when opportunities arise. Every dollar invested in preventing disease and
promoting good health saves $7.50 in health costs within five years.3 That’s a good deal for all
of us. That’s also the price we’ll pay if we create a short-sighted budget that ignores the
opportunity the Fund provides to get Maine’s health costs under control.
The Fund for a Healthy Maine is one of our only investments in preventing costly disease.
Maine is currently ranked 22nd in the nation for our per capita investment in public health.
Without the Fund, we would fall to 48th.4 A lack of commitment to lowering health costs and
improving worker health is not the message we want to send to companies looking to start or
expand their businesses here.
The Fund for a Healthy Maine is working to create opportunities for good health every day!
Helping smokers quit, giving kids a healthy start, supporting new parents, helping families get
active, teaching students about healthy choices, and engaging communities in every corner of
Maine. Each one leads to a brighter future for Maine businesses.
Dismantling the Fund for a Healthy Maine and its investment in Maine’s economic future
takes us in the wrong direction. Maine businesses need lawmakers to protect the Fund for a
Healthy Maine and keep it working as it was intended – creating opportunities for healthy
families and lower costs for everyone.
1
New America Foundation (2008). The Cost of Doing Nothing: Why the Cost of Failing to Fix Our Health Care System Is Greater
Than The Cost of Reform.
2
Maine State Chamber of Commerce/Maine Development Foundation (2010),
www.mainechamber.org/images/MakingMaineWork/MakingMaineWork_Report2010WEB.pdf.
3
Trust for America’s Health (2009), www.healthyamericans.org/reports/prevention08/Prevention08.pdf.
4
United Health Foundation (2010). America’s Health Rankings. www.americashealthrankings.org.