Chellie Pingree Calls for Bold Change in Healthcare

Press Release

Chellie Pingree calls for bold change in healthcare

In final debate of Congressional campaign, Pingree says health care is a major economic issue.

Last night 1st District Congressional candidate Chellie Pingree said it's time for Congress to overhaul the healthcare system. Pingree said that while some "suggest we tinker around the edges, what we really need is major healthcare reform and the next Congress needs to deal with it."

"This is an economic issue," she said. "We need to say 'we can't afford this anymore.'"

Americans pay more per capita than any other advanced nation, Pingree said, "yet many people don't have health care or they are paying $10,000 deductible or their health care isn't there when they need it. "

Pingree, a small business owner, said she understands how difficult it can be to meet the cost of health care insurance for employees.

Pingree also said she is open to a number of different proposals to reform the healthcare system, and is a strong supporter of Barak Obama's "hybrid" plan.

The debate, the last of the Congressional campaign, was held at Bowdoin College in Brunswick and broadcast statewide on the Maine Public Broadcasting Network.

Chellie Pingree is the Democratic candidate for Congress in Maine's 1st District. Pingree has earned a reputation as someone who is willing to stand up and tell the truth, even when it isn't popular. She got her start in public service in her hometown of North Haven, where she raised three children and started two successful small businesses. Pingree went on to serve as Majority Leader in the Maine Senate and then ran for the US Senate in 2002, opposing the war in Iraq at a time when it wasn't politically popular. For four years Pingree served as national President of Common Cause, where she fought for ethics and campaign finance reform and against media consolidation.

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