According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Maine’s population is more than 1.3 million and immigrants make up less than 4% of that population. When I say immigrants I mean documented, undocumented, DACA, the works. Interestingly, each category of immigrants contributes to Maine’s economy in some pretty spectacular ways. Some are business owners, many work in health care and other critical occupations that benefit Maine citizens.

I would like to say people of Maine benefit equally as residents, but that’s not the case. Immigrants contribute billions of dollars into Maine’s economy both as employees and as consumers. Their tax dollars pay into a number of programs such as MaineCare (Medicaid), Medicare and Social Security, yet we continue to block them from the fundamental human right of health care. Maine can and should do better than this.

We’ve all heard the argument “we need to take care of our own first.” Our own politicians have used this very argument to deny what every single human being should have a fundamental right to. Such thinking only furthers the oppression immigrants face daily. We shouldn’t be cherry picking who gets what to survive.

Immigrants are more likely to take jobs native Mainers’ don’t want. They’re more likely to fill health care roles such as home health aides (by a 2016 estimate, making up 14% of that workforce alone). Not only do the wages immigrants earn support programs they are excluded from accessing, but they stimulate the economy, providing for other basic needs we all have.

In terms of health care, immigrants are less likely to seek routine care due to cost, instead relying on emergency services when they have no other choice. Such services are not only more costly, but also a level of care that could have been avoided. Hospitals have the burden of cost through financial programs created to offset the cost of care the uninsured cannot afford. Expanding programs like MaineCare through the ACA, research has shown, significantly decreases in hospitals’ uncompensated care costs. As the uninsured rates go down, so too does the financial strain on hospitals to provide that care.

In 2011, the administration of then-Gov. Paul LePage ended the decades-long access to MaineCare coverage for immigrants. This move was not right for Maine, and it was discriminatory. Maine has since been able to roll this back in small steps through L.D. 718, “An Act To Improve the Health of Maine Residents by Closing Coverage Gaps in the MaineCare Program and the Children’s Health Insurance Program,” sponsored by Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland, though this was only partially approved, to cover individuals 21 and under, and pregnant women.

Furthermore, post-partum care was expanded from 60 days to 12 months to ensure women are receiving the appropriate post-partum care including monitoring and treatment for post-partum depression. On March 28, Talbot Ross introduced L.D. 199 “An Act to Improve the Health of Maine Residents by Removing Exclusions to the MaineCare Program” to address the need for Maine to close gaps in coverage. I am hopeful that Maine will continue to make strides toward providing coverage for all low-income Mainers – regardless of immigration status.

Since the expansion of MaineCare, the rates of the uninsured living in Maine have dropped significantly, but not enough. Without health care coverage for all, we continue to look for patchwork temporary resolutions that merely put a Band-Aid on a wound that Maine should be treating appropriately for better healing.

When we insure as many as we can, we encourage better health outcomes, increased income, positive impacts on Maine’s economy, and better overall well-being for everyone. Maine can and should do this for all Mainers.