This nation’s leaders continue to struggle with the very difficult health care problem. The House-approved AHCA is the most recent attempt but, as written, it will make care unaffordable and inaccessible to millions of Americans, particularly to those beyond age 50. Fortunately, Maine’s two senators both agree that major changes in the House version are […]
health care
Posted inNation / World
House GOP health bill: 23M more uninsured; sick risk higher costs
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah talk to a reporter as he steps onto the Capitol Subway on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress’ official budget analyst is projecting that the House Republican health care bill would produce 23 million more uninsured people and costly, perhaps unaffordable coverage […]
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Posted inNation / World
Your fitness tracker’s calorie count isn’t as accurate as you think
Calorie counting is a useful way to lose weight, but a new study suggests a fitness tracker could sabotage your efforts. The devices are overwhelmingly popular. For instance, since its inception, the leading brand, Fitbit, has sold at least 30 million of them. The company promises on its website that the devices “track steps, distance, […]
Posted inLetters
Questions about health care
Privilege is a special right, advantage or immunity granted to a person or group. If health care access is accepted as a privilege, then, by definition, there must be people who are excluded. To those who believe health care is a privilege, consider this scenario: John, a healthy employed 27-year-old has not been granted the […]
Posted inLocal & State
Lawmakers weigh who can obtain medical records of the dead
AUGUSTA — Two summers ago, Dottie Perham-Whittier sat bawling beside her son Mack’s bed in Maine Medical Center’s intensive care unit, hoping he could fend off a life-threatening toxic shock that followed a normally routine cyst surgery. She’d known for more than a year that Mack had seriously low blood counts that made it tough […]
Posted inLocal & State
Maine Medicaid recipients say they need health care to work
Judy Newell of Portland speaks against the proposed changes to the state’s Medicaid program during a hearing, Wednesday, May 17, 2017, in Portland, Maine. Maine and Wisconsin are finalizing waivers to make significant changes to Medicaid that would make the program more like welfare programs, with restrictions to eligibility and enrollment, premiums and cost-sharing. (AP […]
Posted inLocal & State
GOP group takes to airwaves to defend Bruce Poliquin
As part of its national effort to keep Congress in Republican hands, the American Action Network is kicking off a radio ad campaign to support U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin. Poliquin is one of 10 members of Congress from swing districts slated to benefit from a $400,000 advertising blitz that runs through June 5, the group […]
Posted inLocal & State
Susan Collins says amendment approved to promote generic drugs
PORTLAND — Maine U.S. Sen. Susan Collins says an amendment she proposed to improve generic drug competition has been approved as part of the Food and Drug Reauthorization Act. Collins says the measure is part of an investigation into “aggressive price hikes” in prescription drugs, and it will improve generic drug competition to help make […]
Posted inLocal & State
Poliquin may be vulnerable in 2018 thanks to health care vote
Despite his big win at the polls last year, U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin may be vulnerable. A new poll from a Democratic-oriented nonprofit found the two-term Republican is essentially in a dead heat against a generic Democrat in Maine’s 2nd District. The Patriot Majority USA poll conducted after Poliquin’s vote last week in favor of […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Sen. King: GOP health care bill is ‘cruel, damaging’
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, on Wednesday called the Republican health care proposal that recently passed the House “the most ill-conceived, damaging and downright cruel piece of legislation” he’s seen in his adult life. On the Senate floor Wednesday, King denounced the American Health Care Act as “a foolishly misnamed bill that […]