Personal professional enrollment support is available for all of the benefit plans listed on this page. Send your question by e-mail for fast OnlineAdviser response. Limited telephone support (800) 609-0683. Office hours posted daily on Twitter @FreedomBenefits   Most Liberal Eligibility Basic Health Insurance - the least expensive plan in the exchange with the lowest level health benefits Core Health Insurance - the nation's most popular defined benefit health plans with guaranteed acceptance from US Fire Insurance Company Value 24 Hour Accident - up to $10,000 of supplemental health insurance coverage for emergency treatment of injuries at a cost of about $2 per day. Can be used as a stand-alone coverage or added to other insurance. Value Emergency Room - add $1,000 additional emergency room coverage for $1 per day for the whole family Most Affordable Basic Health Insurance - the least expensive plan in the exchange with the lowest level health benefits Secure Lite STM - the lowest priced major medical insurance for 1 to 12 months Secure Saver STM - $2 million maximum coverage for 1-12 months at an ultra-low rate Value Med Insurance - 3 question simple medical eligibility and immediate approval for supplemental doctor and hospital benefits Long Term Major Medical Celticare - well-known renewable individual major medical insurance for discriminating healthy applicants Dental Insurance Secure DentalOne - one lifetime deductible of $100 and then up to $1,250 per year coverage Online Life Insurance Great Start Child Life Insurance - inexpensive permanent insurance that can be gifted by parents and grandparents Guarantee Trust term life Insurance - fast, easy and inexpensive online term insurance coverage up to $250,000 International Term Life - up to $2 million coverage issued by Lloyds online specifically for those who spend time outside of the US Simple whole life insurance - the fastest way to get affordable permanent coverage up to $50,000. Online underwriting, no exam. Smart term life insurance - up to $500,000 coverage directly online without an exam or blood test QuoteIntelligence Term life insurance - find the lowest rates, compare features & eligibility requirements and then apply online with the best insurance companies in less than 30 seconds.

Maine health insurance exchange Maine residents who need health insurance have access to the products of several commercial health insurance companies that offer individual major medical insurance and 8 companies that issue small group insurance as well as the Dirigo high risk health plan for residents who have been denied commercial coverage due to pre-existing medical conditions. These standard health insurance plans may not be affordable to all residents. This Web page lists some of the most popular low cost commercial health insurance plans and related benefits. All of these policies offer secure online enrollment and professional OnlineAdviser personal enrollment support. Please note that while many of these choices could be included in more than one of the suggested usage categories, each plan is listed only once for the sake of brevity. Your enrollment adviser is available to discuss suitability of any plan for your specific situation. Maine insurance & benefit news Maine had the 10th highest health insurance costs of all states in 2008 with an average family premium of $13,102 per year. (The average annual premium for a U.S. family covered under an employer-sponsored health plan in 2008 was $12,298 according to The Commonwealth Fund report. The overall quality of health care ranked 5th out of the 51 states (including DC). Maine regulates the benefits required for both individual major medical and group health insurance plans, known as "mandated benefits". Short Term Insurance Celtic Insurance - competitive rates from a well-known insurer Markel Smart STM - popular and affordable short term major medical insurance with fast online approval Secure STM - along with its 12 month and 36 month options, this may be the highest quality short term coverage Intermediate Term Inbound Immigrant - up to five years of liberal health insurance coverage after immigration including maternity coverage, emergency and other essential benefits Supplemental Insurance Smart Accident Insurance - supplemental coverage for emergency treatment of accidents and injuries for as little as $20 per month. Can be used as a stand-alone accident plan or to increase other insurance benefits. Value Access Guarantee - everyone qualifies for this plan that pays in addition to any other insurance Maine Insurance Law The Maine Bureau of Insurance Web site contains a link to the full text of all of the state's insurance laws and regulations as well as information to help consumers file a complaint about an unresolved insurance problem. The Web site has not yet developed resources to help individuals find commercial low cost health plans like mini-med or core coverage, specific illness policies, supplemental insurance and basic health insurance. The state insurance department can be reached by telephone at (207) 624-8475 or by mail at #34 State House Station Augusta, ME 04333-0034. The state children's health insurance plan (CHIP) Web site is Maine Office of Integrated Access and Support. Non-insurance Discount Plans Careington PPO Discount Plans - the nation's leading network PPO discount provider allows a no-risk trial of any discount plan for only a $20 processing fee Drug Card America - a free prescription drug card that an be used nationwide Essential Dental Solutions - simple, inexpensive, no waiting period, up to $500 treatment per year Rx Pay Card - $10, $20, or $30 payments for hundreds of popular prescriptions. See International Coverage and Travel Insurance Listings

Maine Insurance News

1/11/2011 The Governor's Office of Health Policy & Finance has been eliminated. Mary Mayhew of the Maine Hospital Association will now lead state government in insurance and Medicaid reform programs.

12/16/2010 Governor’s Office of Health Policy and Finance officials met representatives of 44 other states and numerous employees of the federal Health and Human Services Department in Washington DC this week for a two-day working meeting to discuss the next steps in establish a government-run health insurance exchange under the American Health Benefit Exchange Model Act. Their attendance at this meeting was paid for by a $1 million federal grant awarded by HHS in September to the state for research how to set up an insurance exchange. Two states (Alaska and Minnesota) declined to participate, saying that it was a waste of taxpayer money. Four other states (not identified in press reports) that received federal grants did not send representatives to the meeting. Attendees included representatives of 16 states that are suing the federal government in an attempt to overturn the federal health reform law; specifically the requirement that forces individuals to buy health insurance on the insurance exchange or pay a hefty tax fine.

In its initial federal grant request for the insurance exchange project the Office of Health Policy and Finance said that it would: 1) Continue and complement the current efforts of the Health Reform Steering Committee, comprised of key State officials, and the Advisory Council on Health Systems Development (ACHSD) to provide oversight and stakeholder input on issues related to implementation of the Affordable Care Act, 2) Support the development of a detailed implementation plan for the Exchange, 3) Create a stakeholder process to answer policy and implementation questions in the areas of program integration, business operations, and technical infrastructure, and 4) Evaluate and model various options for Maine’s Exchange and develop implementation plan.

The meeting reportedly did not address the role of the commercial health insurance exchanges on the implementation of new competing government systems. The model act does not address inter-state insurance exchange proposals nor insurance sales across state lines. Federal officials admitted that they may not be able to provide further guidance until 2012. Meanwhile, most states are motivated to continue to meet requirements to obtain additional funding promised by the federal government for the establishment of insurance exchange by 2014. Freedom Benefits has previously voiced the opinion that the huge amount of money being spent to set up alternate insurance sales system technologies could be better used providing health benefits to the public. We proposed on the Universal Health Insurance blog that adequate commercial insurance sales systems are already in place that could be modified in a public/private partnership to make health insurance more affordable.

5/14/2010 Diabetes Coverage: A new resource to help find health insurance for diabetics in Maine is now available at Freedom Benefits.

4/20/2010 The state legislature passed additional mandates that now require current insurance plans to provide coverage for prosthetics containing a microprocessor, children's early intervention services, autism spectrum disorders, and prohibit overall coverage limits on policies. The cost of the mandates is not immediately known but we estimate this will raise the cost of all policies by 3% to 4% per year based on historical patterns and data previously published by Freedom Benefits. Supplemental insurance and limited benefit policies like those listed above in the "Most Affordable" section are generally not affected by the new state mandates. This is one reason for the lower premium rates for these commercial insurance plans. The state legislature was unable to pass the proposed Maine Health Care Plan to provide more affordable basic coverage so a "Short Term Medical Insurance" or a limited benefit plan may provide the best temporary coverage for Maine residents.

4/7/2010 Some Maine consumers benefited briefly by legislation drafted with a loophole that allowed them to drop private insurance and join the taxpayer-paid Dirigo health plan. The plan was intended to provide coverage for the uninsured. Instead, the uninsured ignored it but residents raced to drop their private health insurance to obtain the taxpayer-paid health plan. Now the party is over; Maine acknowledges that virtually all of the $155 million spent on the Dirigo plan since 2005 failed to provide the intended results. The majority of those covered by Dirigo will be dropped and pushed back to the commercial insurance market resulting in at least a temporary rise in the number of uninsured Maine residents.