In Maine, the subsidized Dirigo Health insurance program has become the target of increasing criticism from Republican lawmakers, insurers and, now, a citizens' veto petition drive aimed at reversing tax increases that were recently passed by the legislature to help fund the plan.

The program was designed to cover all of the state's roughly 130,000 uninsured residents by 2009, yet the subsidized DirigoChoice plan has less than 13,000 enrollees, down from a peak of about 15,000, when enrolment was suspended due to a lack of funds. Costs remain high, with DirigoChoice premiums averaging $5,800 per person annually. These numbers have led Republican legislators to step up their opposition to Dirigo, which was hailed by state Democrats and some consumer groups as a landmark access law upon enactment three years ago.

Gov. Baldacci, a Democrat, continues to defend Dirigo reforms he originally spearheaded, reminding critics that "Maine was the first state in the nation to make achieving universal coverage a goal, and today states across the country are following our lead. When we began, Maine had the highest rate of uninsured in New England; today we have the lowest."

Maine does enjoy an uninsured rate of just below 10%, as compared to the national average of about 15 percent, but the costs of extending coverage to this modest segment of the state's uninsured population have been pegged at more than $100 million since 2005, according to the Times Record.

The state started DirigoChoice with $52 million in federal funding, but it has been unable to secure additional federal dollars. The coverage subsidies are financed through an assessment on paid health insurance claims that is calculated based on "savings" generated by the program -- $41 million in 2006, $34 million in 2007 and $33 million in 2008 -- but carriers have sued to challenge these savings figures.

Democratic lawmakers passed a bill in the wee hours of the 2008 session to replace the insurance assessments with new taxes on beer, wine and soda and a 1.8% surcharge on medical claims. Now a group of small business owners has formed the Fed Up With Taxes coalition to repeal the new taxes through a ballot referendum in November