BRUNSWICK, ME – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) today released the January edition of his podcast, Inside Maine, which focuses on the impact that a repeal of the Affordable Care Act would have on rural Maine hospitals and how the health care law has helped Maine people. In the podcast, Senator interviews Ryan Cowan and Sarah Wilder, a Hampden couple who owns Wild Cow Creamery, a small ice cream business in Belfast, and David Frum, President and CEO of Bridgton Hospital and CEO of Rumford Hospital.

“There are several studies that indicate that a lack of health insurance leads to premature death,” Senator King said in the podcast. “People who don’t get check-ups, who don’t get preventive care, people who have a lump under their arm and don’t really do anything about because they don’t have health insurance and don’t want to go to the doctor and spend $100 or $500 or whatever it is, and then it’s too late when it gets caught. And also, if you don’t treat things early, often you end up in the emergency room, which is the most expensive place to take care of it. And we all pay for that if it’s charity care because the hospital has to shift that cost somewhere else.”

This month, Senator King visited both Bridgton Hospital in Bridgton and Penobscot Valley Hospital in Lincoln to hear directly from health professionals and hospital administrators about the impact a repeal of ACA would have on hospitals, which are often a top employer in rural communities. A repeal of the landmark health care law would leave a substantial amount of their patients without health insurance, which would have serious, and in some cases, catastrophic, financial ramifications for hospitals. If the hospitals closed, then not only would countless people in Maine go without vital health care services, but hospital employees would also be laid off, which would detrimentally affect their livelihoods and hurt the local economy.

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. Earlier this month, Senator King offered five amendments to legislation currently under consideration by the Senate that would preserve critical facets of the ACA. He has also cosponsored an amendment that would stop efforts to dismantle the law, and he 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.

The “Inside Maine Podcast with Senator Angus King” is a 30-minute program that aims to help keep Maine people informed about issues of the day, how they affect life in the state, and how they factor into Senator King’s work as one of two independents in the U.S. Senate. Senator King’s podcast builds on his existing radio show that airs on Newsradio WGAN in Portland, Maine between 10 and 11 a.m. on almost every last Saturday of the month.

A link to the January Podcast can be found HERE.

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