In 2021, the Maine legislature created the Office of Affordable Health Care when it enacted P.L. 2021 Chapter 459, Section 3. The establishing legislation directs the office to:
- Analyze health care cost growth and spending trends, including correlation to quality and consumer experience.
- Monitor the adoption of Alternative Payment Models in Maine and across the country.
- Develop proposals to improve:
- the cost-efficient provision of high-quality health care;
- coordination, efficiency, and quality of the health care system;
- consumer experience with the health care system;
- and health care affordability and coverage for individuals and small businesses.
- Provide staffing support to the Maine Prescription Drug Affordability Board.
The Office of Affordable Health Care is an independent executive agency, which works under the general policy direction of an Advisory Council and the Joint Standing Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance, and Financial Services.
About the Executive Director
Meg Garratt-Reed was appointed as the first Executive Director of the Office of Affordable Health Care on February 28, 2023. She previously spent four years serving in the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, first as Senior Advisor for Coverage and Affordability, and later as the founding Director of Maine’s Health Insurance Marketplace, CoverME.gov. Prior to her return to Maine, Meg was Director of Policy and Partnerships at United States of Care, a national non-partisan non-profit focused on supporting state-level efforts to expand quality, affordable health care. Earlier in her career, she served as Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff and Director of Delivery System Reform at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Before her appointment at CMS, she worked for more than five years in the office of Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, most recently as Director of Operations and Legislative Assistant for a portfolio of issues including health care and human services.
Meg is an alumna of Wellesley College and holds an M.A. in Public Management from Johns Hopkins University.