New Video Series Highlights Medical Debt Crisis

High healthcare costs are crushing Maine patients and families. Over 60 percent of Mainers say they'd struggle to afford a surprise $500 medical expense, and over 40 percent have taken on medical debt in the last five years. 

These numbers are staggering, and this crisis is not isolated. It affects all of us, all acr oss Maine.

Mainers For Working Families spent the last three months traveling all around the state to meet Mainers and discuss the truly devastating effects medical debt has on their lives.  

Check out the first video in our series, Tackling the Medical Debt Crisis in Maine, where we’ll explore the stories of Mainers affected by medical debt.

Nobody should be burdened by debt simply for seeking the care they need to live healthy and happy lives. From Portland to Farmington to Lewiston to Orono, Mainers agree: it’s time to take on medical debt.

Lawmakers Pass Bill to Expand Income Tax Brackets

The working families that power our economy are navigating out-of-control housing, healthcare, childcare costs, on top of shouldering an unfair income tax burden. 

The inequity in our tax code favors the wealthiest few, and places the bulk of the pressure on folks who are doing their best to make ends meet. The Maine Legislature has passed a bill to fix this.

Currently, Maine has three income tax brackets: 5.8 percent for the lowest income bracket, 6.75 percent for the middle bracket, and 7.15 percent for the highest tax bracket. With these current brackets, Maine has one of the highest income tax rates for low-income taxpayers in the country.

The new law adds three new brackets at the top - with rates between 7 - 8%. What’s more, this bill also cuts the income taxes for average Mainers by increasing the threshold in the second and third tax brackets. The adjusted brackets would ensure that folks do not enter the second bracket until they earn more than $41,600, and do not enter the third until they earn more than $85,000.

This ensures that the wealthiest few are paying their fair share1, just like the rest of us. Thanks to the Maine lawmakers for making this change to help us all!

Lawmakers Are Addressing Out-of-Control Prescription Drug Costs

It is no secret that healthcare costs in Maine are skyrocketing, and saddling working families with unmanageable financial burdens. Nearly half of all Mainers find it difficult to afford healthcare, according to a recent survey.

One of the culprits of these difficult healthcare costs is prescription drugs. Many drug companies still practice price gouging. Here in the United States, we pay more than many other countries for our prescription drugs, and a major reason for this is that our biggest drug purchaser is only just beginning to negotiate drug prices. 

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 granted Medicare, the largest national purchaser of prescription drugs, the ability to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies on the prices of certain medications. The negotiations have already begun and will take effect by 2026. These medications include:

• Eliquis

• Jardiance

• Xarelto

• Januvia

• Farxiga

• Entresto

• Enbrel

• Imbruvica

• Stelara

• Fiasp; Fiasp FlexTouch; Fiasp PenFill; NovoLog; NovoLog FlexPen; NovoLog PenFill

LD 1829 would prevent state-regulated health insurers from paying more for these select prescription drugs than what Medicare has negotiated. The price for each of the above medications will be set at the maximum rate that a drug can cost under Medicare, which is determined by the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. To ensure that the money these health plans and providers save is put to good use, the bill also requires that those savings must be used to reduce costs to patients. 

Should LD 1829 pass, all Mainers will be able to benefit from Medicare’s price negotiation, ensuring these commonly used and expensive medications will be accessible and affordable for everyone. It will reduce the risk of Mainers having to ration or skip these medications, leading to healthier lives, and decrease the financial burden placed on our families by price-gouging prescription drug companies. We strongly encourage the Legislature to pass this bill.