As we approach the end of 2024, we look back on our activities of the past year, while planning for another year of education and advocacy for health care for everyone in Maine.

Here is a partial listing of Maine AllCare’s accomplishments in 2024:

  • Developed a draft plan for publicly-funded universal health care for the state. We will be releasing it for public comment in early 2025. We are also exploring advancing it to legislation in 2025.
  • Received from the Maine Center for Economic Policy the updated fiscal analysis of a publicly funded universal health care plan. (Stay tuned for further details as we “roll it out” to the public next year.)
  • Established an Op-Ed and Letter-to-the-Editor writing team in March 2024.
    • We also catalogued, and in several cases inspired,17 Maine newspaper pieces supporting publicly funded universal health care. Several of these letters are posted on our website.
  • Sponsored a citizen’s ballot initiative in the town of Surry. The resolve called on the State Legislature to develop a plan for publicly funded, universal health care in Maine. At the June elections, the initiative passed with an 18-point margin. (In 2023, the town of Penobscot passed the initiative with a two-thirds majority.)
  • Met with staff of Senator Angus King, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, and Congressman Jared Golden. We expressed deep concerns about  Medicare Advantage plans, which reap huge profits by routinely defrauding the government and compromising the quality of care their members receive.
  • Met with Rep. Chellie Pingree to commend her for her support and co-sponsorship of the Medicare for All Act and the State-Based Universal Health Care Act.
  • Participated in the Maine Medical Association Legislative Committee and the MMA’s Listening Sessions on the MMA’s Healthcare Reform Statement, which includes consideration of the single-payer model at the national level.
  • Met with the Office of Affordable Health Care in Augusta, encouraging them to analyze the publicly funded universal health care model. The office has already critiqued the Public Option.
    • Several Maine AllCare supporters offered testimony at the OAHC hearings in September 2024.
  • Saw published in the Maine Policy Review Dr. Daniel Bryant’s analysis of health care costs and funding in Maine.
  • Honored the accomplishments and contributions of our long-time friend and Board member Lynn Cheney.
  • Gave presentations to the Maine Medical Association, the Healthcare Advocates for Maine, the Common Ground Fair, and the One Payer States coalition.
  • Attended the annual meeting of Physicians for a National Health Program in Chicago, November 2024: “This is How We Win: Building Power for Health Justice”
Looking ahead to 2025!