HEALTH AND SAFETY

The 2008 Legislature passed a number of measures to protect the health and safety of Maine families, and ensure health care access while keeping costs down. Lawmakers enacted bills to protect kids from secondhand smoke by prohibiting smoking in cars when children are present; established strong chemical oversight policy, requiring the state to test, track and eliminate dangerous chemicals from products that children are exposed to in Maine; provide stable and reliable funding for the State’s Dirigo Health program, and reduce rates for private insurance policy owners by up to 40 percent while bringing more young and healthy people into the market; prohibit hospitals from charging to correct medical errors; and increase access to dental care in rural Maine through a tax credit for rural dentists, among a number of other health and safety measure

Summary of New Health and Safety Laws Passed By The Maine Legislature In 2008

856 – Reduce drunk driving and strengthen OUI laws

Increases license suspension periods for OUI offenses, and allows multiple offenders to earn back their license if they install ignition interlock devices, also known as “breathalyzers”

2012 – Protect kids from secondhand smoke

Protects children from secondhand smoke in cars, by prohibiting adults from smoking in a car when a child under 16 is present

2044 - Prevent hospitals from charging for errors

Reduces overall health care costs by prohibiting hospitals from charging patients to correct their medical errors

2048 – Protect children from toxic chemicals

Joins other states in establishing strong chemical oversight policy; requires the state to test, track and eliminate dangerous chemicals from products that children are exposed to in Maine

2051 - Ban private sale of firearms to minors without consent

Restricts the private sale of a firearm to minors without parental consent

2053 – Get the lead out of children’s products

Protects children from the toxic effects of lead by prohibiting the manufacture, distribution and sale of lead-containing children’s products

2111 – Clear hurdles to develop the statewide radio network

Improves public safety and homeland security by allowing the state to purchase lands necessary for the implementation of the statewide radio and network system

2218 – Protect Maine children from lead poisoning

Works to prevent childhood lead poisoning by boosting lead inspection and enforcement efforts and creating the voluntary lead-safe housing registry

2247 – Continue Maine’s leadership in covering the uninsured – Dirigo, market reform

Provides stable and reliable funding for the State’s Dirigo Health program, and reduce rates for private insurance policy owners by up to 40 percent while bringing more young and healthy people into the market

2275 – Create a Bangor veterans’ campus

Authorizes the Creation of a Veterans Campus providing independent housing, a community-based outpatient clinic, a hospice facility and other facilities to serve veterans on a site of land owned by the state in Bangor

2192 – Increase access to dental care in rural Maine

Creates an income tax credit of up to $15,000 for up to 5 new dentists in 2009 and 5 additional dentists in 2010 who agree to practice in underserved areas of the State for at least 5 years