Together as the leaders of Maine’s largest health care systems, we’ve made clear the significant challenges our hospital systems face today, and we have detailed how those challenges would be exacerbated if the health care reform legislation pending in Congress were to pass. We’d like to thank Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King for their leadership in standing up for Maine people by opposing the Better Care Reconciliation Act. Like the House bill, the Senate bill would:

• Cut billions out of MaineCare, Maine’s Medicaid program, which pays for such vital services as nursing homes, care for people with developmental disabilities and mental illness, and services for low-income children.

• Leave over 100,000 Mainers without access to affordable health care coverage.

• Jeopardize the viability of Maine’s fragile rural health care infrastructure.

• Jeopardize thousands of jobs in rural Maine.

We agree that the Affordable Care Act needs to be fixed. But the proposed legislation would not stabilize the individual insurance market and would threaten Maine’s hospital systems. It’s a lose-lose scenario for Maine.

We appreciate the leadership that our senators continue to provide in this critical debate. Both have noted the importance of a bipartisan solution. We agree that partisan politics must be set aside if we are to achieve the goal of ensuring access to quality, affordable health insurance coverage for the people who count on us for their care.

Bill Caron

president, MaineHealth

Portland

Michelle Hood

president and CEO, Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems

Brewer