Four Democratic candidates for governor Friday debated how to reform Maine\u2019s health care system, with all supporting moving toward a universal health care system.<\/p>\n
Dr. Nirav Shah, Hannah Pingree, Shenna Bellows and Troy Jackson \u2014 who are vying for the Democratic nomination in the June 9 primary election \u2014 agreed health care\u2019s financial system is broken and needs a major overhaul. Angus King III was not present at the debate.<\/p>\n
The forum at the University of Maine at Augusta was hosted by the Maine Center for Economic Policy think tank and Maine AllCare, which advocates for universal health care.<\/p>\n
Shah, a former Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention director, said in response to a question about a patient in rural Maine having difficulties scheduling an affordable colonoscopy, that the system is \u201cabsurd.\u201d <\/a><\/p>\n He said the patient was being asked to be an insurance expert and schedule his colonoscopy \u201cas if this young man was buying a TV.\u201d<\/p>\n The system serves patients and rural health care providers poorly, Shah said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe treat\u00a0rural hospitals like they are a restaurant, but we should treat rural hospitals like the fire department,\u201d Shah said. \u201cWe should treat them like a public utility.\u201d<\/p>\n Rural hospitals have closed in Maine or cut services, often by shuttering birthing centers. Northern Light Health\u2019s Inland Hospital in Waterville closed in 2025.<\/p>\n Hannah Pingree, the former director of the Governor\u2019s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future with the Mills administration, said cutbacks by the Trump administration to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act mean Maine residents are losing access to health care.<\/p>\n Pingree said her plan would launch a public option to reduce the uninsured rate.<\/p>\n \u201cMy plan calls for a public insurance option so that individuals and small businesses can gain access to a plan if they can\u2019t afford their insurance,\u201d Pingree said. <\/p>\n