Over the last few months, I have heard many people express concerns regarding the ever-increasing cost of medical care and how those costs are cutting into many family budgets. In 2008, Forbes identified medical expenses as the number one reason that Americans file for bankruptcy.

Surprisingly, they found that 78 percent of medical bankruptcy filers were actually insured, debunking the myth that medical bills only financially cripple those who lack insurance.

In 2011, Maine passed health insurance reform that became Public Law 90. Unfortunately, the new law was only in effect for 18 months before being superseded by the ACA. However, in that time Anthem sought to increase rates just 1.7%, as opposed to an estimated 20% if the law had not been on the books. There is little doubt that PL90 reined in the out-of-control costs of individual and small group plans.

Fast forward to today and healthcare costs have only continued to skyrocket. Insurance premiums have regularly increased while the cost of medical services has gone largely unchecked despite sweeping federal regulations.

Mainers can no longer afford to wait for Washington to fix the broken system, however, healthcare has become even more heavily regulated by the federal government than ever. The encouraging news is that there are some things that we can do at the state level to ensure transparency and ease the burden for consumers stumbling under high deductibles.

Believe it or not, information is one of the best ways to lower health care costs. For example, it is frequently cheaper to pay for prescription drugs out-of-pocket than it is to use insurance. The public rarely learns this secret due to “gag clauses” between insurance companies and pharmacies. These communication contracts prevent pharmacists from letting consumers know when a prescription is priced lower than their co-pay. As a result, we unwittingly pay more for prescription medications nearly a quarter of the time (23%).

Paying more than necessary for prescription drugs is troubling for many reasons, particularly since it should be the job of the insurance company’s pharmacy benefits manager to negotiate the best price for medications. However, the White House Council of Economic Advisers said in a February report that large pharmacy benefit managers “exercise undue market power” and generate “outsized profits for themselves.”

Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) is addressing this issue at the federal level, but I think it would be worth investigating in Augusta as well. In fact, some states have already adopted laws to make sure pharmacists can inform patients about less expensive ways to obtain their medications, and many more are considering legislation to prohibit gag clauses.

Considering most of us are now paying large amounts of our health care out-of-pocket due to high deductibles, tools such as www.comparemaine.org have become even more important. This website, created under Maine statute, allows consumers to compare the cost and quality of health care services and procedures before scheduling them so they have the information needed to make the best financial, as well as medical, choice.

Legislation which I sponsored, “An Act to Improve Access to Cost-Effective Health Care Services” was folded into the “Right to Shop” bill and allows out-of-network provider costs to be applied toward a deductible as long as they are less than or equal to state average. This gives you more options on where to receive care.

Pricing transparency injects much-needed competition into the health care marketplace. Studies have revealed great discrepancies in billing rates between facilities in Maine that are geographically close to each other with no correlation between higher pricing and the quality of service. So this new law will be a win-win, as rewarding consumers to shop around will save plans money, and lead to reduced premiums for everyone.

I will continue to look to what other states are doing, as well as to industry leaders for inspiration on how Maine can get a handle on runaway health care costs and look forward to continuing this important work next year.