The last time I wrote to you, I spoke about the importance of MaineCare, our state’s version of the Medicaid program. MaineCare provides health care to low-income families and children, people with disabilities and pregnant women, and is overwhelmingly supported by Maine people.

I also wrote about how Maine faces the same challenge as many red and blue states – the cost of health care is rising and state budgets are having a hard time keeping up. This fiscal year, which runs until the end of June 2025, we face a $117 million gap in MaineCare. If unaddressed, providers already facing financial challenges would be put in an even more difficult situation. In some dire cases, providers could be forced to shut their doors – and when those doors shut, they shut for all of us.

In the last month, members of the Legislature’s budget committee worked hard to reach a bipartisan agreement on a supplemental budget that would fix this gap and get funding out the door quickly. I was very pleased when, in early February, they reached a deal and voted unanimously to recommend passage of the supplemental budget to the full legislature. However, my Republican colleagues suddenly walked back on the deal and began insisting that to earn their support, we would need to make cuts to MaineCare and housing assistance.

While I disagree with these cuts, these are large policy conversations that can certainly be had as the Legislature moves to construct a biennial budget – which covers the next two fiscal years – in the coming weeks. Right now, Maine people are counting on us to keep MaineCare afloat and to do it quickly.

A unique aspect of Maine law requires a two-thirds vote in the Maine House and Senate to approve emergency funding, which means strong, bipartisan support. Without this two-thirds vote needed to get this funding out the door, the Department of Health and Human Services will begin cutting back funds owed to hospitals, nursing homes, and home and community-based services as early as March.

We have continued to hold votes, and Republicans continue to oppose the plan they had previously agreed to. The more votes we take, the less I understand why there is opposition. Our most rural communities rely heavily on keeping MaineCare functional – 45% of folks in Washington County; 40% in Aroostook and an average of 37% across Oxford, Franklin, Somerset and Piscataquis are enrolled in MaineCare.

Many of us in the Legislature are here to make sure that our rural areas are not left behind.

In addition to the people covered by MaineCare in these areas, the small health care providers that strengthen our small towns are at most risk of harm. The Maine Primary Care Association recently told the Press Herald, “Health centers operate in small, rural towns in each county, and are also present and essential in Maine’s bigger cities; like many other health care providers, they are not designed to weather endless instability in payments.”

As I’ve learned in my time on the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee, Maine already has many “care deserts” across our state, forcing folks to travel long distances to get the services they need. I am deeply worried that not approving this funding means the problem would only get worse.

Every day in Augusta, as I chair the Health and Human Services Committee, I hear more stories of folks struggling with access to health care. Folks like Vickie, from Norway, who shared how her insurance did not cover services she felt would have made a real difference in her mental health care.

We need to be moving forward on health care access, not backward. I stand ready to support critical funding for MaineCare, and I hope my colleagues will join me to find a path forward for Maine people. The people of my district and the rest of Maine are not the least bit interested in the political games taking place here in Augusta. They want to make sure that they continue to get the quality health care they deserve for their families. They deserve no less from us.

As always, if you have any questions about the information here or if you would like to reach out with a comment, question or concern, you can reach out to me any time. If you want to stay up-to-date on what we’re working on in Augusta, please sign up for my email newsletter at mainesenate.org or visit my Facebook page at facebook.com/IngwersenForMaine.

Henry Ingwersen represents Senate District 32 which is made up of Arundel, Biddeford, Dayton, Hollis and Lyman. He can be reached at Henry.Ingwersen@legislature.maine.gov or 207-287-1515.