BANGOR, ME – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) today co-hosted a discussion with AARP Maine at the Bangor Public Library to highlight the harmful effects of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) and share the stories of older, rural Maine people who are worried that the bill will dramatically increase their health care costs and make health insurance unaffordable and unattainable. The discussion specifically focused on the impact of the age tax, a provision within the AHCA that would allow insurance companies to charge older Americans – ages 50-64 – up to five times more than they charge others.

“As we heard today, this bill is going to dramatically increase health care costs for older people in rural Maine, which means many of them will no longer be able to afford insurance and have to risk going without it,” Senator King said. “I don’t think that’s right, and I am going to continue fighting in the Senate for these folks and urge my colleagues to make meaningful improvements to the Affordable Care Act rather than abandoning it altogether – because if we abandon the ACA, then we abandoning good people across Maine.”

Today’s discussion featured several people from across rural Maine who each expressed their concern that the AHCA will make their health insurance unaffordable and, therefore, unattainable. For example, Jennifer Schroth, 56, of Blue Hill, Maine noted that her family – including her two young adult sons – were never able to afford health insurance before the Affordable Care Act. Jennifer and her husband are organic farmers in Brooklin, Maine, and are now concerned that the AHCA will once again put health care out of reach for their family. Several other people echoed their concerns about the bill and the impact that it would have on them, their families, and their lives.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a 60-year old in Aroostook County with a $30,000 per year income would lose approximately 70 percent of the federal support for their health insurance plan under the AHCA, which would sharply increase the costs that person pays out of pocket for health insurance. Kaiser also estimates that that support would fall by nearly 50 percent across the rest of the state. According to the estimates:

Senator King has spoken out against the AHCA as “the most ill-conceived, damaging, and downright cruel piece of legislation” he has seen in his adult life. In addition to the age tax, he has denounced the AHCA’s impact on Maine’s fight against the opioid epidemic, its impact on people with disabilities, and how it will harm rural hospitals across the state.

Senator King opposes the repeal of the ACA, which would strip health care away from tens of millions of Americans, including more than 75,000 in Maine. He has joined with several of his centrist colleagues in urging Senate leadership to discuss improvements to the law before rushing to fast-track a repeal of it.

Senator King live-streamed today’s discussion over Facebook. To watch archived video, click HERE.

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