Maine hospitals are facing cuts in Medicaid payments. Thousands of Mainers are facing the loss of MaineCare coverage. Thousands more Mainers, including many with health insurance, are facing bankruptcy due to medical debt. The Medicaid cuts on both the state and federal level also put Maine’s hospitals and healthcare infrastructure at risk. Eleven (44%) of Maine hospitals are at risk of closing. A cut to Medicaid funding impacts all Mainers.
Maine AllCare believes that Maine must move forward with publicly funded health care coverage for all Mainers. Despite the constraints in the state budget and the looming cuts to our federally funded healthcare programs. Maine cannot afford to wait.
We are actively supporting three bills in the Maine Legislature this session:
1) establishing a publicly funded health insurance plan for all Mainers,
2) commissioning a fiscal analysis of universal coverage in Maine, and
3) freezing any potential private equity acquisitions of our Maine hospitals.
Learn more about our bills below, and join us to testify in one, two or all three hearings! We expect the hearings to occur in April. We will have a 2-week notice, and we want to be ready!
Our News
Maine AllCare is busy this legislative session. Below is more information on the three bills we are supporting, with two of them still awaiting LD status:
1. Affordable & Comprehensive Health Care for All Mainers(see 2-pager here) – Our proposal for universal health care would cover all Maine residents with comprehensive benefits including dental, vision, and mental health services. With no deductibles and only predictable costs based on ability to pay, the All Maine Health Program (AMHP) would eliminate the complexity of our current system while making health care truly affordable for everyone. Based on our previous fiscal analyses, a publicly funded health plan for all Mainers is feasible!
2. A State-Funded Fiscal Study on Universal Health Care in Maine (see 1-pager here) – Based on our research, Maine AllCare believes a universal, publicly funded health care system could provide more and better care to ALL residents for about the same money we currently spend, collectively. The State has not conducted a fiscal feasibility study on universal health care since 2002. The resolve asks the Maine Office of Affordable Health Care to study how a publicly funded, universal healthcare system could work in our state. With our AMHP proposal as a potential model, the study will examine costs and funding options with findings due by May 2026.
3. LD 985 – A Moratorium on Private Equity Acquisitions of our Maine Hospitals (see 1-pager here) – The idea that private equity will make hospitals more efficient and provide better patient care is wrong. We do not want a Steward Health Care situation in Maine. This bill would place a five-year pause on private equity firms buying or operating Maine hospitals. The moratorium gives lawmakers time to develop proper safeguards. It will protecti Maine’s health care system from the kinds of profit-driven practices that have led to hospital closures and reduced care quality in other states.
Our Story
Maine AllCare has been advocating for better health care in Maine for 15 years. We are a small group of Mainers, the majority of us volunteers, committed to bringing comprehensive, affordable health care to Maine. Over the years, Maine AllCare has rallied, testified, educated, organized, petitioned, researched, analyzed data, and built coalitions across the state to advance this cause, and will continue to do so. Thank you to those who have been a part of our journey to date, and welcome to those who are joining.
Spotlight on Julie Pease, Board Chair
Dr. Julie Pease, a psychiatrist, is one of the founders of Maine AllCare. On a personal level, she’s fought battles with insurance for many years, including being denied coverage for a pre-existing condition before the Affordable Care Act. As a doctor, she’s witnessed the challenges of our health care system for many of her patients the past decades, including:
Patients having to choose between filling prescriptions and buying groceries.
Patients paying so much for insurance then being unable to afford to pay their medical bills due to high deductibles.
Spending more time with patients discussing how to afford treatment than actually providing healthcare.
Insurance company employees directing treatment plans and making treatment decisions with prior authorizations and denial of payment.
In 2010, she decided it was time to advocate for systemic change. “Our system is in crisis. People are not able to get the care they need, either because they can’t afford it or due to long wait times. A publicly financed system would eliminate administrative waste (no more turning hospitals and doctors into collection agents), pay providers promptly, eliminate medical debt, and strengthen our health care workforce.”
Spotlight on Tracy Lloyd, Executive Director
Joining us as of January 2025 as the executive director of Maine AllCare, Tracy brings her expertise in non-profit organizations, volunteer coordination, and education. Her master’s degree in education and conditional license in social work equip her well for keeping our team organized, coordinated, and on task. She also provides administrative support for multiple professional medical and leadership organizations across Maine. She enjoys spending time with her partner, four adult children, and two grandchildren in Central Maine. We are thankful to have her onboard!
Last year, our writing team helped inspire dozens of letters to the editors and op-eds in Maine newspapers supporting publicly funded universal health care.
Clynk is a simple way to support Maine AllCare’s work—just fill up a Clynk bag with your returnable bottles and cans, put on a MAC sticker, and drop them off at a nearby Hannaford store.
Clynk bags are available at participating Hannaford stores for a small fee. To get MAC stickers, contact us and we’ll put them in the mail to you.
Maine AllCare promotes the establishment of publicly funded health care coverage for all Maine residents.
This system must be efficient, financially sound, politically sustainable, and must provide benefits fairly distributed to all.
We advocate that health care, a basic necessity, be treated as a public good, since it is fundamental to our well-being as individuals and as a democratic nation.
Dr. Julie Pease, a psychiatrist, is one of the founders of Maine AllCare. On a personal level, she’s fought battles with insurance for many years, including being denied coverage for a pre-existing condition before the Affordable Care Act. As a doctor, she’s witnessed the challenges of our health care system for many of her patients the past decades, including:
