3+ week, 5+ day ago (448+ words) As negotiations continue over a new contract between Northern Light Health and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield on Monday, insurance officials said their patients are now out-of-network for some Northern Light health services. In a statement Saturday, Northern Light President and CEO Guy Hudson said Anthem enrollees would not be considered out-of-network while negotiations are ongoing. Karen Sanborn, a spokesperson for Northern Light Health, said on Monday that the health system will not bill Anthem or its patients until the negotiations are resolved. Jim Turner, an Anthem spokesperson, said in a statement Monday that the contract between the two parties for non-hospital services " including physicians, specialists and walk-in clinics " ended Oct. 31, making Anthem's patients out of network for those services starting Nov. 1. The contract for hospital services ends on Dec. 31. "Northern Light Health saying they will treat patients as in-network…...

5+ day, 14+ hour ago (781+ words) SOUTH PORTLAND " Small business owners and self-employed workers at a roundtable discussion on Monday told Maine Gov. Janet Mills and U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree that their health insurance premiums will spiral and cost thousands of dollars per month if certain Affordable Care Act tax credits expire. "Out-of-pocket expenses for our family for health insurance next year will be upwards of $42,000," said Ossian Riday, 54, a self-employed software developer from Topsham. "That is basically the equivalent of buying a new car every single year." Riday, speaking during the event held at Greater Portland Health in South Portland, said small business owners "need solutions for health care coverage without fear of financial disaster." The extension of some of the subsidies " called Enhanced Premium Tax Credits " was at the center of a debate that spurred this fall's government shutdown, which ended on Nov. 12 without an…...

4+ hour, 26+ min ago (1178+ words) Mary Link loves her job as a self-employed business owner, helping to run a home improvement company with her husband, Jeremy. But the Links, like other small business owners across the state, are facing a large increase in their Affordable Care Act health insurance premiums if certain tax credits expire at the end of the year. Without them, the Windham couple's monthly health insurance bill, for the same plan, would more than double next year. Mary Link, 51, said she would be faced with going uninsured or stepping away from their business, Custom Link Home Improvement, and returning to a previous career in bookkeeping. "There's a lot of freedom, working for yourself. I've enjoyed this contracting work so much. It's what I want to do and it's what makes me happy now. Should I think about going back to a corporate…...

1+ week, 1+ day ago (918+ words) Jeffrey S. Barkin,MD, DLFAPA, is a practicing psychiatrist in Portland and the former president of Maine Medical Association. He co-hosts "A Healthy Conversation" on WGAN. Most of us do not think much about health insurance until we need it. It is like the roof over your head. You do not look at it every day. But you notice the first leak. In America, many families are hearing those first warning drops right now. And unless we act, the whole ceiling may give way. This is not a Republican problem or a Democratic problem. Getting sick is not partisan. Losing health insurance is not partisan. Bankruptcy is not partisan. Illness does not check who you voted for, how you feel about Congress, or whether your state is red or blue. When a child spikes a fever or a parent hears the…...