Michael Dubyak is Chairman of WEX Inc., a leading provider of corporate payment solutions. From 1986 to 2013, Dubyak held executive management positions, including the last 15 years as President and CEO. His career at WEX spanned the Company’s nine years of venture capital ownership, five subsequent ownership changes and ultimately its Initial Public Offering in 2005. Dubyak has chronicled the story of the founding of WEX, initially known as Wright Express, in his book, The Road to Wexcellence, published by Amazon Digital.
Dubyak’s leadership and vision was instrumental in forming the strategy, infrastructure, and operating philosophy under which the Company continues to excel today. He guided a technological transformation of WEX, developed new market strategies and instituted aggressive growth and market leadership goals. Under Dubyak’s direction, WEX became a publicly traded organization in 2005 with an approximate market cap of $700 million. WEX’s current market cap is $8.13 billion.
Dubyak currently co-chairs FocusMaine, an economic initiative with a mission to create significant job growth across Maine. He has also chaired Educate Maine, a K-16-focused education attainment organization, was Chairman of the University of Southern Maine Board of Visitors, served on the board of the United Way of Greater Portland, the Executive Board of the Maine Chamber of Governor’s Council on Competitiveness and the Economy, the New England Advisory Council of the Boston Federal Reserve, the Center for Grieving Children Board of Directors and co-chaired its Capital Campaign.
Mike has a B.A. from Baldwin Wallace University. An avid world traveler, hiker, biker and kayaker, Mike and his wife, Denise, have navigated the Colorado River in a wooden dory, hiked 7 days to Machu Pichu, navigated the Antarctica and the Arctic on an ice cutter, and hiked over 75 miles in New Zealand, Patagonia, Ireland, and Bhutan.
Erik Jorgensen introduced Dr. Chuck Radis, a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of New England and a rheumatologist with an interest in Public Health issues. After 22 years in private practice at Rheumatology Associates in Portland, he now provides rheumatologic services through the Maine Coast Memorial Hospital in Ellsworth.
Dr. Radis believes that universal health coverage is a basic right. He described the problems with our current health care system as “the bridge is burning.” Dr. Radis indicated that in 2007 15% of our country’s total gross product went to health care and that number is now 17%. He told us that the most common reason for bankruptcy in the U.S. is large medical bills.
Without getting into a full discussion of the Affordable Care Act, Dr. Radis stated that it provided benefits by allowing younger adults to be insured longer under their parent’s policies and by coverage of pre-existing medical conditions. The ACA didn’t, however, control costs.
Dr. Radis argued that a new health care system is necessary and that to be effective, it needs to be:
1. Simple (the current U.S. system is much too complex);
2. Fair (universal); and
3. Sustainable (with cost controls).
Dr. Radis then gave examples of what he personally was charged on his medical bill for same day surgery in 2015 and compared those figures with the medical costs of the individual items. The differences were in some instances staggering. He also gave other examples, like the average cost to Americans for an MRI is $1,119 – in Australia it’s $215. He noted that the only two countries that allow prescription advertising on television are the U.S. and New Zealand and that this advertising adds about 20% to the cost of prescriptions.
Dr. Radis then discussed Medicare and noted that it has substantially less administrative costs as compared with private insurance. Medicare also pays less to hospitals and physicians than private insurance. Dr. Radis said that what Medicare can’t do by law is negotiate the price of prescription medicines and he believes this should change.
In summary, Dr. Radis believes that the solution to our health care cost crisis is to design a system that looks a lot more like Medicare. His proposal – both during his talk and afterwards when taking questions, provoked skepticism and outright disagreement by some Rotarians who argued that his examples were oversimplified and in some examples erroneous. It was a lively discussion about a critically important topic.
(Photo L-R: President Don Zillman, Dr. Chuck Radis and Erik Jorgensen.)
President Don Zillman called the meeting to order welcoming 39 members and 1 guest to the Clarion Hotel.
David Small provided a delightful invocation, lamenting and celebrating the changes in our lives, with an incoming club president and with the ever-changing seasons, which all too quickly run from summer to autumn here in Maine. But, with a reading about the joys of summer, we were all able, if just for a day, to feel the excitement that these first few balmy days bring us all as Mainers.
Kathy Grammer’s voice steadied our acapella group through our rendition of “America the Beautiful.”
John Houghton brought the lovely and talented Jay Houghton, his beloved wife, to Rotary as his guest.
Gracie Johnston needs your help! The Preble Street Resource Center provides so much (gracie.johnston@newscentermaine.com) support for the homeless community, which explodes in the summer, and our club has committed to providing volunteers for our Wednesday commitment from 3:30 to 6:30. This could be some of the most rewarding work you can do…so please contact Gracie if you’d like to make an impact on the lives of some of those who are less fortunate than yourself.
Erik Jorgensen was feted for winning his re-election to The Maine House of Representatives. Despite running unopposed, Erik ran a crisp and well-managed campaign. Congrats to our Woodford area leader. We look forward to hearing Erik’s thoughts on the happenings in Augusta. And we promise to not have his talk take place in a bowling alley this year!
President Don gave a brief and carefully worded thumbs-up for the ranked choice voting process which culminated this past week with Janet Mills’ primary victory. As she gathers herself to take on Shawn Moody in November’s general election, we, as Mainers, can conclude that as a national model for this new system, our voters seemed to handle it with great aplomb and stability.
Our search for a “home” continues. After some very successful and warmly received discussions with The Holiday Inn By-the-Bay resulted in an offer to keep us on as Friday guests, our club is finalizing its position as we search for the elusive perfect venue for our Friday meetings (reporter’s note: we began this VERY elusive search back when I was club president about 15 years ago!). While just about all of us want to stay on the peninsula, and just about 100% want to stay on as a “Friday lunch club,” there are so many factors, such as parking, meal cost, and black- out dates, that really cause the Board of Directors to pause and reflect on these rather major decisions. While the decisions are being worked out, and with new consideration being given to the gorgeous Jewish Community Center near Westgate, President Don (with President John in the wings) asks for your patience and understanding as we once again grapple with finding a cozy and welcoming home base.
Patty Erickson had our speaker, Chuck Radis, draw a name for the weekly raffle and Tom Saturley strode to the podium in search of the elusive queen of hearts which would have netted Tom $690….but the eight of clubs forced Tom back to his seat, in search of a pot of gold at another time.
Rotary District 7780 members and family are invited.
The Portland Sea Dogs are happy to host Rotary District 7780 as they take on the Altoona Curve, AA Affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, August 19th at 1:00 PM. Gates open at 11:30 AM. Tickets are $26 pp. Tickets purchased through this link are for the Coca-Cola Picnic Area in Right Field, and include a buffet that runs from 11:30am until 2:00 PM and consists of hamburgers, hot dogs, bbq pulled chicken, baked beans, cole slaw, Coca-Cola products and Sea Dog Biscuits. There is also a cash bar in the area for beer and wine.
What a great way to share an afternoon with fellow Rotarians and prospective members in the District. Invite your friends and family, too!
Following is a list of our Club's volunteer projects. If you know of other opportunities, please contact Loretta: lrowe@maine.rr.com
When Project Who to Contact
Summer Reading Tuesdays and Thursdays Program 11:15-12:00 pm North Deering July 5 thru August 9 Gardens Contact Jan Chapman or Laura Young on Tuesdays jchapman1966@gmail.com lyoung@mainecf.org
Invocation: Bruce Jones Program Reporter: Bob Martin Bits & Pieces Reporter: Erik Jorgensen Registration/Greeter: Matt Wolcott Sell Meal Tickets: Jennifer Frederick Raffle: Ellen Niewoehner Collect Meal Tickets: Jan Chapman Sgt-at-Arms (Setup): Howie Herodes Sgt-at-Arms (Take Down): Peter Noyes
The following items are needed on an on-going basis. Please feel free to bring them to a meeting where we will collect and distribute them to the appropriate projects.
Crutches4Africa - Crutches, canes, folding walkers and wheelchairs to be shipped to Africa.
Toiletries for the Shelters - Collect those tiny bottles of toiletries you are paying for during your next hotel visit and bring them home for members of our society who find themselves staying at a shelter and in need of personal hygiene products.
Michael Dubyak is Chairman of WEX Inc., a leading provider of corporate payment solutions. From 1986 to 2013, Dubyak held executive management positions, including the last 15 years as President and CEO. His career at WEX spanned the Company’s nine years of venture capital ownership, five subsequent ownership changes and ultimately its Initial Public Offering in 2005. Dubyak has chronicled the story of the founding of WEX, initially known as Wright Express, in his book, The Road to Wexcellence, published by Amazon Digital..JPG)
