LD 134
pg. 4
Page 3 of 7 An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Commission To Study Public Healt... Page 5 of 7
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LR 159
Item 1

 
analyses of issues identified in this section as part of the annual
report required by September 1, 2006 in accordance with the Maine
Revised Statutes, Title 24-A, section 6908, subsection 6.

 
In addition, as part of the effort recommended by the
Commission to Study Public Health to encourage the purchase of
healthy and nutritious food by families using certain public
benefit programs, the Department of Health and Human Services
shall determine whether the EBT card system can obtain
information regarding the fruit and vegetable purchasing behavior
of individuals who are receiving public benefits through the Food
Stamp Program, including the purchase of Maine-grown fruits and
vegetables, and whether this information can be directly used by
the Dirigo Health plan "Healthy ME Rewards" incentive program to
provide incentives to individuals enrolled in the health plan
that participate in the Food Stamp Program. The Commissioner of
Health and Human Services shall submit a report that includes the
information determined pursuant to this section by November 2,
2005 to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having
jurisdiction over insurance and financial services matters and
the joint standing committee of the Legislature having
jurisdiction over health and human services matters.

 
Sec. 4. Comprehensive employee health program addressing obesity. The
Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of
Human Resources, Division of Employee Health and Benefits shall
implement a comprehensive, population-based approach to
addressing obesity-related risk factors and disease management,
including nutrition counseling and physical activity and health
risk identification and management. Implementation should
include:

 
1. Creating one or more full-time positions within State
Government to support the development of a health improvement
infrastructure;

 
2. Requiring flex-time policies covering all state employees
to encourage and support employee health;

 
3. Conducting an inventory of the availability of fitness
centers in locations of heavy concentrations of state employees;

 
4. Creating performance management objectives through which
supervisors and managers support and encourage healthy lifestyles
among employees they supervise; and

 
5. Dedicating at least 0.5% of annual health insurance
premiums for all state employees to support employee health and
wellness.


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