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                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1

                            CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO
                            RULES 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a)
                          UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE
                             ACT OF 1934, AS AMENDED

Paul R. Dupee, Jr. does hereby certify that he is the duly elected and incumbent
chief executive officer of Maxicare Health Plans, Inc. (the "issuer") and does
hereby certify, with respect to the issuer's Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2003 (the "report") as follows:

1.       He has reviewed the report;

2.       Based on his knowledge, the report does not contain any untrue
         statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
         in order to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances
         under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to
         the period covered by the report;

3.       Based on his knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
         information included in the report, fairly present in all material
         respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows
         of the issuer as of, and for, the periods presented in the report;

4.       He and the other certifying officer are responsible for establishing
         and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures, as defined in Rule
         13a-14(c) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, for the
         issuer and have:

i.       Designed such disclosure controls and procedures to ensure that
         material information relating to the issuer, including its consolidated
         subsidiaries, is made known to them by others within those entities,
         particularly during the period in which the periodic reports are being
         prepared;

ii.      Evaluated the effectiveness of the issuer's disclosure controls and
         procedures as of a date within 90 days prior to the filing date of the
         report (the "Evaluation Date"); and

iii.     Presented in the report their conclusions about the effectiveness of
         the disclosure controls and procedures based on the required evaluation
         as of the Evaluation Date

5.       He and the other certifying officer have disclosed to the issuer's
         auditors and to the audit committee of the board of directors (or
         persons fulfilling the equivalent function):

i.       All significant deficiencies in the design or operation of internal
         controls which could adversely affect the issuer's ability to record,
         process, summarize and report financial data and have identified for
         the issuer's auditors any material weaknesses in internal controls; and

ii.      Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other
         employees who have a significant role in the issuer's internal
         controls; and

6.       He and the other certifying officer have indicated in the report
         whether or not there were significant changes in internal controls or
         in other factors that could significantly affect internal controls
         subsequent to the date of their most recent evaluation, including any
         corrective actions with regard to significant deficiencies and material
         weaknesses.

April 12, 2004                               /s/ PAUL R. DUPEE, JR
                                 -----------------------------------------------
   Date

                                               Paul R. Dupee, Jr.
                                            Chief Executive Officer