Maine residents and doctors who have had to battle private insurers over coverage protested outside of Aetna Health Insurance’s office in Portland on Wednesday, demanding that highly-profitable corporations stop denying care. “When an insurer tells us that medical care we need isn’t covered, what are we going to do?” Portland resident Ronan Aubrey said at…
The state’s medical community is uniting behind a package of bills intended to improve the lives of transgender residents that are currently making their way through the Maine Legislature. In a public hearing late last week, representatives from the Maine Medical Association, the Maine Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Maine Psychological…
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey and several district attorneys in Maine have come out in support of legislation that would remove criminal penalties for possession and exchange of hypodermic syringes. The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Genevieve McDonald (D-Stonington), is being championed by health experts and criminal justice reform and harm reduction advocates as a…
Members of the Maine Sheriffs’ Association and the Maine Medical Association on Monday voiced support for a bill that could significantly reform Maine’s drug sentencing laws. The Criminal Justice Committee is considering legislation, LD 1492, introduced last year by state Rep. Pinny Beebe-Center (D-Rockland), that would attempt to bring Maine in line with other states…
Dozens of Maine doctors and parents packed into the Welcome Center at the State House Tuesday morning to officially launch the “No on Question 1” campaign, Maine Families for Vaccines. The campaign was formed to oppose a people’s veto effort —which will appear as Question 1 on the Maine ballot during the presidential primary on…
Health care and legal advocates enthusiastically supported a bill to require Maine’s Commissioner of Corrections to establish a substance use disorder treatment program in Maine correctional facilities at a public hearing on Friday, a change they say will help curb the number of lives lost to the opioid crisis. Although sponsor Sen. Linda Sanborn (D-Cumberland)…
In a statement released Friday, the Maine AARP said it is concerned that a new ad attacking Question 2 “will scare Maine seniors with false statements.” Question 2 on the November 7th statewide ballot would allow Maine to accept federal funding to expand health care coverage through Medicaid. The ad in question is a 15-second…
Representatives of the Maine Medical Association, Maine Chapter of the American College of Physicians, and other organizations representing health care providers spoke out strongly in favor of Question 2 on Wednesday, saying the measure to expand access to health care through Medicaid will save lives. “Covering every Mainer with adequate health care coverage is critical…