The time for talking about healthcare costs has long passed | Opinion
Maine broker warns of a “death spiral” in commercial health insurance
South Portland, Maine – Jim O’Connor, a broker at the Bay Agency who has spent more than four decades handling company benefits, says that rising premiums are pushing small businesses into a crisis he calls a “death spiral.”
O’Connor’s latest op‑ed, published in the Press Herald, argues that the current trajectory of health‑insurance costs is unsustainable. He cites a 17‑employee company whose employer‑sponsored family plan is set to increase from $1,744 a month to $2,377 a month on Oct. 1. The change would add $7,596 annually to the cost of coverage and the plan carries a $6,300 deductible—figures that, according to O’Connor, are typical for small businesses in the state.
“The insurance world is in a cycle where rising premiums cause healthy workers to drop coverage, leaving a smaller pool of sicker, more expensive patients,” O’Connor writes. “That, in turn, drives premiums up even further.”
The broker’s argument follows a recent Press Herald story that examined how Maine’s top two federal lawmakers view a potential nationwide Medicare‑for‑All program. The article, dated Aug. 13, 2026, noted that state Senator Troy Jackson supports the plan, whereas Senator Susan Collins opposes it, citing cost and tax implications for middle‑class families.
Collins, who has long been critical of the idea, described it as “expensive and impractical.” O’Connor agrees that a Medicare‑for‑All program would raise taxes, but he questions whether lawmakers fully appreciate the present reality of commercial insurance.
“Employers and employees can’t afford these hikes,” he says. “If we do nothing, the health‑care system could collapse sooner rather than later.”
O’Connor also references remarks from Steven Michaud, the former president of the Maine Hospital Association, who said in an earlier article that the affordability crisis is “not solvable.” The Maine Monitor published Michaud’s comments in early 2023.
In addition to discussing insurance premiums, O’Connor highlights the rising prices of prescription drugs. He points to the drug Skyrizi, which was priced at $19,700 per dose in 2023 and has climbed to $22,913 per dose according to GoodRx data. “They can raise prices because they have the power, not because of ingredient costs,” he writes, citing the drug’s advertising campaign that he feels gives the impression that “the sky’s the limit.”
The broker’s op‑ed, which follows a 2017 column titled “Both political parties to blame for U.S. health‑care system’s ills,” and a 2023 piece on drug pricing, urges Congress to take substantive action beyond promises to lower prescription drug costs.
O’Connor, who is based in South Portland, remains hopeful that lawmakers will move beyond lip service. “If we do nothing,” he concludes, “the outcome will not be pretty.”
