Maine AllCare

In addition to the eight state ballot measures on November 7, residents of Penobscot had their own question to consider: “Shall the citizens of Penobscot call on the Maine Legislature to create a publicly funded healthcare plan that provides every Maine resident with comprehensive medical care?”

By a 2-1 margin, Penobscot voters said “Yes.” The final count was 355 votes in favor and 173 votes opposed.

David Jolly, a Penobscot resident and board member for Maine AllCare, presented the referendum to the town select board last spring and worked with the board and the town clerk to get the measure on the ballot. 

Jolly and others from Maine AllCare hosted two public information sessions about the referendum in October at the Penobscot Elementary School, where residents asked questions and shared the challenges they face—as patients, family members and health care professionals—in getting access to care, navigating the complicated and confusing system, and affording both care and health insurance.

“My own experience with health care coverage has been vastly different between times when I had private insurance and when I became eligible for Medicare,” said Penobscot resident Dotty Caldwell. “The relief of having good health insurance at a very reasonable cost has alleviated so much of the stress over making sure we’re affordably covered. I want everyone to have this, and that’s why I support universal healthcare and the referendum.”

Jolly also handed out flyers and talked with fellow residents at the Penobscot transfer station on two October Saturdays. He noted that some people were skeptical about health care for all, as a public good. But as they shared their experiences, and those of family, friends and neighbors, they seemed to talk themselves into supporting it. “They realized how broken the system is, and that we need to do better,” Jolly said.

Maine AllCare volunteers have presented similar measures to town select boards and city councils from Brunswick to Bangor, and in two cases for a vote at town meetings. Penobscot is the first town in which the question was put directly to voters in a general election. 

With the passage of the Penobscot referendum and lessons learned along the way, Maine AllCare is working with volunteers  to launch similar initiatives in towns and cities across the state, with the goal of demonstrating widespread support for a publicly funded universal health care system in Maine.

“Comprehensive health care reform is unlikely at the federal level any time soon,” Jolly said. “But change is possible at the state level and Maine AllCare wants to send a clear message to our legislators to make that happen.”