KENNEBUNK — In August 2008, Martin Mead, of Kennebunkport, was working for the town part-time as an emergency medical technician when he faced his own medical problem. After finding a lump in his groin, Mead’s diagnosis was cancerous melanoma that had invaded his lymph nodes and required surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.

Although Mead’s cancer was treatable, he still faced a seemingly insurmountable problem: Mead didn’t have health insurance.

He went on to get the life-saving treatment, but racked up nearly $50,000 in health care costs in the process.

“I was dying under medical bills,” said Mead.

When he tried to find affordable health insurance to cover some of his medical costs, it was next to impossible, he said. In most instances, when he called insurance companies inquiring about coverage, “I couldn’t even get a quote,” said Mead.

The insurance companies that did offer to sell him a policy wanted to charge him astronomical premium payments. In addition, he was told he would have to wait a year before the policy provided any coverage for his pre-existing condition.

But last year Mead found a solution. He found affordable health insurance that would immediately cover bills for his illness through the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, administered in Maine by the Dirigo Health Agency.

The Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan was created a year ago, as part of the Affordable Care Act passed by Congress. Now those who are uninsured with pre-existing conditions can find high-quality health insurance at affordable prices.

Mead signed up for the program almost as soon as it was available. Now, he said, “I’m a happy camper.”

Through this program, Mead can afford to pay his premiums and even make monthly payments on his past medical bills.

The plan, which is administered either by the federal government or the state, depending on each states’ rules, is a bridge program that’s in effect until 2014. At that point, all Americans, regardless of their health, will have access to affordable health insurance though a Health Insurance Exchange.

But there’s one big problem with the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, said Jaye Weisman, regional administrator for the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: “People don’t know about.”

The federal government allocated $5 billion nationally, $17 million of that to Maine, to pay for the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan until the Health Insurance Exchanges take effect in 2014. However, only a small portion has been spent in the first year of the program.

Although the exact number is unknown, many of the 130,000 Mainers who don’t have insurance qualify for the program, but only about 25 have signed up, said Joe Ditré with Consumers for Affordable Health Care in Augusta.

Now the state and federal government are on a mission to spread the word about the program.

Those who are eligible must be U.S. citizens or legal residents, have been without insurance for at least six months and have a pre-existing condition or been denied coverage because of a health condition.

The cost of premiums vary depending on income, assets, household composition and the region where the policy holder lives, said Ditré, and there is a sliding scale for those who earn less than 300 percent of the poverty level.

In addition to the plan being affordable, he said, the coverage for pre-existing conditions kicks in immediately, with no year-long waiting period.

Because of his assets, Mead pays the highest premium level, about $700 a month. But he still makes out because his condition requires him to have three CAT scans a year, which he figures would cost him about $15,000 if he had to pay out-of-pocket.

In addition, in recent weeks Mead has been undergoing treatment for lymphedema, which requires him to have therapy four days a week. He shudders to think what he would do without the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance plan.

“When you consider the alternative,” said Mead, “I could be dead.”

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.