published an article<\/a> on Senate candidates Troy Jackson\u2019s and Susan Collins\u2019 positions on Medicare for All.<\/p>\nJackson was reported as saying healthcare was a right and that he supports Medicare for All. Sen. Collins was reported as saying Medicare for All would raise taxes and that Jackson does not have a plan for it, only a slogan.<\/p>\n
Access to healthcare is a huge issue for Maine residents and the position of the two candidates says a great deal about their values and understandings.<\/p>\n
To appreciate the Maine healthcare system and Maine people, one needs to look at the economy of Maine and its geography. Today, healthcare can relieve much pain and suffering and can often be curative. To not be able to find needed care for oneself or one\u2019s family is a great source of anxiety and attaining that care too often comes with financial ruin.<\/p>\n
Homes, businesses and farms are lost. Lives are lost; suffering is prolonged. There is a sense of fear and shame of the risk of being turned away because of inability to pay. These health system issues are Maine issues for several reasons. <\/p>\n
Many more people here are self-employed as farmers, fishermen and small business owners than in more urban states. In rural areas, which make up a very large part of Maine, there are not many big businesses that offer good wages and health benefits. Sometimes insurance is offered but the wage structure may not allow the worker to purchase it.<\/p>\n
Then if a health insurance plan is to be affordable relative to wages and cost of living, one usually has to choose a plan with a large deductible. One has to pay out of pocket until the deductible is met, which might be between $2,000 and $5,000. A $5,000 deductible does not sound so bad if there is a bill for a $10,000 medical procedure. If there is no big procedure, however, the deductible faces a person every time they choose whether or not to have their pain or illness checked in an office visit.<\/p>\n
Deductibles are a force against preventive care or early treatment of problems. It is likely economically necessary for people to wait and see, but sometimes this is penny-wise and pound foolish. The Affordable Care Act was designed to help those who cannot access health insurance through an employee group. Rates for these plans jumped by a high percentage last year and are said to be going to go up again this year.<\/p>\n
People have had to drop coverage. Medicaid or MaineCare coverage is being threatened on several levels and reimbursement to hospitals serving the poor is also threatened, thus threatening the services to those in most need. Access to healthcare is a foundational human need; under the 14th\u00a0Amendment, a human right of equal opportunity.<\/p>\n
To say that healthcare for all would raise taxes is a smokescreen; while taxes would be raised, the need to buy private insurance would be eliminated. There is a very high cost to society resulting from care not provided. If some of the money spent on ICE or wars and weapons were spent on healthcare, taxes might even go down.<\/p>\n
Budgeting is a planning process; values are expressed in the choice of priorities. Healthcare is a priority for Maine people. Our politicians need to address it. Susan Collins saying that Medicare for All is too expensive does not express recognizing or valuing the need. Troy Jackson\u2019s words and deeds show an understanding of the issue and compassion for people affected.<\/p>\n
Healthcare is not an easy problem to solve, but first the problem needs be recognized on a human level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Susan Henderson lives in South Portland. As the spotlight shines on the Maine Senate campaign, a newspaper article…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":849932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":["post-849931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=849931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}