In my two decades of serving Maine families, never has the affordability crisis of health care delivery in our state been more apparent or urgent.

Our health care system here in Maine currently holds the appalling status of being the most expensive in New England. A recent poll revealed two-thirds of Mainers are just one major health crisis away from financial disaster. This is not only inexcusable, but also dangerous. Families navigating the tremendous and numerous stressors of medical emergencies are entitled to know what their health care is going to cost and be able to plan accordingly.

My colleagues and I are all too familiar with stories of folks juggling between putting food on the table and dealing with mounting medical bills. We recognize that if patients can focus on healing, rather than how they will pay for exorbitant medical bills, health outcomes improve. Maine’s health care workforce is doing their best under the current conditions of our system to meet the medical needs of our citizens, but it’s clearly time to address this escalating crisis on a legislative level to mitigate further harm.

L.D. 1955 will expand access to free care for qualifying Mainers and prevent hospitals and other health care facilities from practicing unfair debt collection practices and unreasonable repayment plans. We can all be stronger, healthier citizens of Maine if we tackle this issue head-on.

The time to act is overdue and we must act to allow for more affordable health care here in Maine.

Shannon Carr, M.D. 
Bristol

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