U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin threw his Maine constituents under the bus when he voted for what Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has called a “mean-spirited” health care bill. Poliquin and other congressional leaders created a health care crisis by approving the American Health Care Act.

The Senate’s health care bill, the Better Care Reconciliation Act, was crafted with no public hearings; the Congressional Budget Office reported Monday that it will ultimately remove coverage for 22 million Americans who are currently insured.

It has been described by independent Maine Sen. Angus King as “cruel,” because it lets states seek waivers that could erode coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, dramatically raises rates for older adults and people with disabilities, defunds Planned Parenthood and will drastically reduce Medicaid funding by hundreds of billions of dollars, affecting low-income families and elders in long-term care.

States like Maine will feel these changes most severely. Built into this bill, which increases health care costs for elders, is a tax cut for the wealthiest 2 percent among us!

The Senate bill, which provides welfare for the rich by cutting health care for elders, will be up for a vote before the July Fourth weekend. Call Sen. Susan Collins’ office at 202-224-2523 to share your thoughts on the Better Care Reconciliation Act.

Steven Kelley

Kennebunk

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