AUGUSTA — Maine’s Republican governor wants to require everyone from a school bus driver to camp counselors to report a pregnant woman’s suspected substance abuse. The state says 8 percent of babies born in 2015 were affected by drugs, alcohol, or both. Currently, under state law, certain health care providers have to tell the state […]
health care
Posted inLocal & State
Heidi Brooks sponsors single-payer health care bill for Maine
AUGUSTA — As Congress debates the merits of the Affordable Care Act and its potential successor, some lawmakers think the time is ripe to create a single-payer health care system in Maine. “Here in Maine many people are struggling to get the care they need when and where they need it. Universal health care ideally […]
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Susan Collins says Senate will take time to get health bill right
Republican senators plan to write a health-care bill that could be radically different from the one passed last week by the House, including keeping some of the benefits and safeguards currently enshrined within Obamacare. The Senate’s different approach means there’s no clear timetable for producing a bill, and it likely ensures that President Donald Trump […]
Posted inLocal & State
Democrats hope to use health care vote to unseat Rep. Bruce Poliquin
Despite a big win in his re-election battle last year, U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin remains a top target for Democrats who plan to start going after him with online ads soon. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee listed the second-term Republican among the incumbents it aims to unseat in a 2018 race it hopes to turn […]
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Susan Collins says House health care bill has more questions than answers
WASHINGTON — Republicans are claiming a triumph by pushing their legislative centerpiece scuttling much of President Barack Obama’s health care law through the House. It was a perilous journey, and its Senate pathway will be at least as bumpy with little doubt the measure will change, assuming it survives. Thursday’s 217-213 House passage — with […]
Posted inNation / World
Last-minute bargaining keyed passage of GOP health care bill
President Donald Trump, accompanied by GOP House members, speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Thursday, May 4, 2017, after the House pushed through a health care bill. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump was ready to celebrate. On the day House Republicans narrowly passed a bill to […]
Posted inNation / World
U.S. House to vote on health care bill Thursday
Updated 11:03 a.m.: The Republican health care bill has cleared an early House hurdle, and party leaders are pushing the measure toward a climactic final vote they say they will win. The measure moved forward by 235-192, setting up a roll call on final passage that was expected to be close. A late amendment adding […]
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Bruce Poliquin says he will vote for GOP health care bill because ‘ObamaCare is failing’
After weeks of indecision, U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin declared Thursday that he will support a health care measure that would repeal key elements of the Affordable Care Act. Poliquin, a two-term Republican from the 2nd District, rushed back to the Capitol early in the day less than 48 hours after his father suffered a stroke […]
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Legislature considering 3 bills that would affect Maine health care workers
In the next decade, Maine will need an additional 1,602 registered nurses, 475 nurse practitioners and physician assistants, and 2,474 direct care workers — those who provide long-term, hands-on care to seniors and people with disabilities. For a small, aging state, that’s a lot of people. Indeed, nurses and direct care workers are among the fastest growing […]
Posted inNation / World
Susan Collins, Angus King go on ‘Meet the Press’ to discuss health care policy
Vice President Mike Pence went on NBC’s “Meet the Press” to talk up a state health care reform baked into Republicans’ Affordable Care Act replacement plan. But our U.S. senators seemed split on whether that’s a good thing. After their last replacement plan was pulled in March for lack of support, Republican leaders have made changes […]