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I am retired now. But when I was seeing patients, I would often see women who were trying to support their children but could not afford medical care for themselves. They often worked at a big box store but were only given 30 hours per week of work so that the company would not have to offer them health insurance coverage. Or they ignored warning signs of illness because they had a small farm, and while they could eat, there was no way they could pay for health insurance. And there were other families destroyed by medical debt.
These are exactly the kinds of folks that I believe Matt Dunlap wants to help by making healthcare available to all. There are potential programs — a public option, Medicare for All, using the combined power of the VA, Medicaid and Medicare to negotiate lower drug costs, eliminating expensive insurance company profiteering. And Matt Dunlap has committed to working on these initiatives.
These folks I described are exactly the people that Paul LePage refused to cover on Medicaid when he was governor despite popular demands. And he has supported the One Big Beautiful Bill, which again takes healthcare away from working people. He champions an administration that threatens to cut Medicare and Social Security.
I believe Congress needs to push back against the forces that reward only corporate wealth, not the folks who live and work in the 2nd Congressional District. Matt Dunlap will take up that fight.
Connie Adler, MD
Chesterville