Issue Position: Health Care

Issue Position

Standing behind our promise to provide affordable healthcare:

Our aging population faces the burden of paying for medical care, medications, and assisted living arrangements. A commitment to providing affordable healthcare to all Mainers must be achieved.

Former Representative Paulette Beaudoin (D-135) championed changes that alleviated the burden of healthcare costs for seniors. Her work must not be left unfinished. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has proven to live up to its name. California's full-fledged adoption of the law has demonstrated that the premiums are actually much lower than anticipated. Expanding health care to more than 60,000 Mainers through the ACA should have been a deal that Governor LePage accepted in May of 2013. Instead, he vetoed the legislation and sold out those who are most in need of MaineCare expansion. This is unacceptable.

We have seen the cost burden placed on people who are simply trying to maintain their health. The hesitation of handing those last few dollars to the pharmacists for medication is a reality for far too many. Healthcare should not be a luxury for those with high-earning jobs. Rather, it should be a system of care afforded to all. Vermont is moving closer to a single-payer healthcare system -- Maine should follow suit.

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