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Lynnea Hawkins of Lewiston is a member of the Mainers for Health Care leadership team that helped pass Medicaid expansion in 2017. Chance Isazu of Bangor is studying international studies and social work at the University of Maine in Augusta.
As two people who have experienced the pain and fear of going without health care when we really needed it, and who have worked to get more affordable care for all Mainers, we were moved by Gov. Janet Mills’ recent statement affirming the need to “make health care more affordable and accessible.” She said we can make “Maine a place where all people are welcome and can have good-paying jobs so they can raise happy and healthy families and live a decent life.”
We could not agree more, which is why we’re counting on her to support LD 718, which will restore MaineCare (Maine’s Medicaid program) for immigrants who call this state their home. Although the Legislature supported health care for immigrants on a bipartisan basis between 1996 and 2011, it was stripped away during the LePage years. Today, thousands of immigrants live, work, and contribute taxes in our communities but are shut out of Maine’s health care system because of the high cost of care, and their immigration status.
Our two stories are like many across Maine, and they show why affordable health care is necessary for everyone, no matter our income, immigration status, race, or background. While neither of us is more “deserving” of access to health care, one of us is eligible for MaineCare as a low-income Mainer while the other is not — based solely on our place of birth.
Dividing care along immigration lines is unfair, hurts families and makes no sense for public health, something Chance has seen as a now-22-year-old student who migrated to the United States at 14. Migrating to another country and the fear of the unknown can cause mental health issues. Chance, a green card holder, had MaineCare until the age of 21, but suddenly lost it due to immigration status. Chance was blindsided with the unknown of how to treat mental illness without medical care and had to skip medication or take less to get by.
Like Chance, I know what it’s like to go without needed care. That’s why when Maine had Medicaid expansion on the ballot four years ago, I volunteered to collect signatures, made calls, served on the leadership team and I shared my own story of struggling to afford to take care of my health while raising my son. The same arguments I made and heard from so many others during the Medicaid expansion campaign apply to our friends, family, neighbors, who are immigrants. To say that I’m thankful Medicaid expansion was there for me and more than 70,000 people during the pandemic is an understatement.
Health care is a racial equity issue, as we’ve seen so clearly in the pandemic. Maine experienced some of the largest health disparities for COVID, and many immigrants who are people of color put themselves and their families on the line to work essential jobs in health care, food preparation, and other industries that form the backbone of Maine’s economy.
Unfortunately, there have been times when elected officials were frightened by anti-immigrant sentiment, xenophobia, false choices and assumptions about who contributes, and who is worthy of support. It’s time for policymakers to put that aside to do what is right for people and for Maine. If Maine is to be a place where all people are welcome and able to raise happy and healthy families and fully contribute to our communities and economy, as the governor envisions, we must all have access to health care.
We hope Maine policymakers, including the governor, take our message to heart: Health care for all means all. Families across our state are depending on them for their health, wellness and even their lives. If this was the right choice for 70,000 Mainers under Medicaid expansion (and we know it was), it is right for Mainers who are immigrants too. Let’s build a better, more inclusive future, together.