Jeff Pierce is a former Maine state representative, contractor and real estate developer.

In Maine, we tend to value straight talk. Whether you’re out on the water before sunrise, running a small business or just trying to keep up with bills at the kitchen table, you don’t have much patience for systems that aren’t clear or don’t add up.

That’s how a lot of Mainers feel about healthcare right now.

Costs keep going up. But getting a straight answer on why or where all that money is going isn’t always so simple. And that’s really the point. If we’re serious about fixing healthcare, transparency has to come first, not last, and it can’t be an afterthought.

There are a couple issues in Washington getting attention lately that really bring this home: the growth of the federal 340B drug pricing program and increasing frustration, understandably, with health insurance companies. Different topics, sure. But they point to the same underlying problem: patients are too often left guessing.

The 340B program started with a pretty straightforward goal: help ensure low-income and rural patients have access to affordable medicines. That still matters, especially in a state like ours, where access isn’t something Mainers can take for granted.

But like a lot of things in healthcare, the program hasn’t stayed small.

A 2025 report from the Congressional Budget Office, the first major review of the program in years, found that spending on drugs purchased through 340B grew from $6.6 billion in 2010 to $43.9 billion in 2021, a pace that’s much faster than overall drug spending. The report also points to hospital expansion and the growth of affiliated outpatient clinics as major drivers of that increase.

Now, most people aren’t concerned by program growth alone.

The bigger question, and the one that’s considerably harder to answer, is whether patients are seeing the benefit of the program. Are those savings making prescriptions more affordable? Are they helping people access care sooner, or more easily?

Right now, it’s tough to say. There’s no consistent, easy-to-understand way for patients (or frankly, policymakers) to see how 340B savings are used or how much is passed along at the pharmacy counter. And when programs aren’t transparent, they’re hard to trust.

At the same time, people across Maine are dealing with something a lot more immediate: the rising cost of health insurance.

Polling of Maine voters earlier this year found that 73% say premiums, deductibles and coverage denials are their biggest healthcare pain points. That shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s had to navigate the system lately. You can have insurance, follow the rules, do everything right — and still end up with bills that don’t quite make sense. Or coverage decisions that feel arbitrary. Or both.

If you step back for a second, these issues really aren’t separate. Whether it’s how 340B dollars are used or how insurance companies make decisions, the common thread is pretty simple: people don’t have a clear view of how the system actually works. And that’s a real problem.

To be clear, this isn’t about assigning blame. Maine’s hospitals are important, especially in rural parts of the state. Insurance coverage matters too. Nobody is suggesting otherwise.

But trust in the system depends on people being able to understand it. And right now, while healthcare costs continue to rise, too much of it feels out of view. There are practical ways to improve that.

For 340B, that starts with clearer reporting — plain information about how savings are generated and, just as importantly, how much of that is reaching patients directly. Not complicated filings that only experts can parse, but something people can actually follow, and information policymakers can use to inform thoughtful reforms.

For insurers, it means more transparency around pricing, coverage decisions and what’s really driving premium increases. People shouldn’t have to guess what something will cost until the bill shows up, or struggle to understand why a treatment may not be covered.

These aren’t big, sweeping ideas. They’re pretty basic, actually.

In a place like Maine, where people rely on common sense and a fair deal, it shouldn’t be too much to expect a healthcare system that’s at least understandable, or maybe even predictable, once in a while.

Fixing healthcare isn’t going to happen overnight; everyone knows that. But bringing more transparency into the system is a realistic place to start. And honestly, it’s overdue. At the end of the day, patients deserve a system that is clear, straightforward and built with them in mind.

BOSTON (CelebrityAccess) — Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey is aiming ticket scalping and rising resale costs with a new proposal that would establish some of the toughest consumer protections in the country for concert and sports tickets.

Healey announced legislation titled An Act Relative to Closing the Great Divide between Ticket Prices and Affordability, better known as The Great Divide Act, which seeks to make live events more affordable by capping resale prices, limiting fees, and banning speculative ticket sales. The proposal is expected to be included in the governor’s upcoming supplemental budget package.

Under the proposal, tickets sold on the secondary market could not be resold for more than 110% of their original face value unless an artist or venue specifically authorizes a higher cap. The bill would also limit resale service fees to 10% of the total resale price, prohibit the sale of speculative tickets that the seller does not yet own, and crack down on deceptive ticketing websites. The legislation follows similar reforms recently adopted in Vermont and Maine.

“Far too many Massachusetts residents have experienced the pain of being excited to buy tickets to see their favorite singer or sports team, only to realize that resale prices and fees have driven up the cost to outrageous levels,” Healey said. “Or how about when you do purchase tickets from a reseller, only to get to the venue to realize the seller never actually transfers them to you? Enough is enough. We are taking action to lower ticket resale prices so Massachusetts fans can better afford to see their favorite performer or team.”

Statement from Brian Berry, Executive Director of Ticket Policy Forum:

“We emphatically support banning deceptive speculative tickets and agree with Governor Healey that tickets are more expensive than ever, but her proposal ignores and exempts the illegal Ticketmaster-Live Nation monopoly, which continues to push prices up and is the source of the vast majority of tickets for fans in Massachusetts. Exempting Ticketmaster means prices will continue to rise for most ticket sales in the state since the cap would only apply to resale, which represents a small fraction of overall ticket sales. Exempting Ticketmaster is protection for the illegal monopoly, not fans. Lawmakers should right this wrong immediately and ensure Ticketmaster is included in any new ticketing regulations. Massachusetts’ Attorney General is helping lead the fight to break this monopoly up, and this bill undercuts that critical work. After all the hard work of the Attorney General to help find Live Nation-Ticketmaster guilty of operating an illegal monopoly, this Ticketmaster handout and exemption could put the benefits of a future Live Nation-Ticketmaster break-up at risk for the Massachusetts live event market and fans. There is an easy fix here: remove the Ticketmaster exemption.”

Vermont singer-songwriter Noah Kahan, whose latest album and tour inspired the bill’s name, appeared virtually during the announcement and voiced his support for the measure.

“I heard about what you’re announcing today, and I just wanted to let you know how excited I am about it. The artist community and fans will greatly benefit from limiting ticket scalping and the sales of speculative tickets. I love my fans and want to protect them however I can. Artists alone could not tackle the market manipulation of secondary resellers. So, thank you so much for making this a priority in Massachusetts.”

If approved by lawmakers, the legislation would make Massachusetts one of the strictest states in the nation when it comes to regulating the secondary ticketing market, adding to a growing movement among states looking to address high resale prices and hidden fees.