PORTLAND, ME – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) spoke at the ‘Protect Our Care’ Bus Tour event at Portland’s City Hall in defense of the Affordable Care Act. Protect Our Care is a group of healthcare activists that are currently traveling the country via bus to share stories, testimonies and represent Americans whose health is being put at risk by continued attacks on the Affordable Care Act. In addition to Senator King, attendees included Representative Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), people who suffer from pre-existing conditions, healthcare providers, seniors, local elected officials, people with disabilities and others. During their 48 stop, country-wide tour, the Protect Our Care activists work to bring humanity to the policy decisions of the administration, which could potentially result in millions of Americans losing their health care coverage.

 

“Healthcare is not a privilege that can be revoked from those who are too poor or too sick – it is a prerequisite for Americans seeking to live happy, healthy and productive lives,” said Senator King. “This isn’t a radical idea – it’s a compassionate one. Maine people, and people across the country, should not be denied access to the medical care they need. In response to those who would revoke this care from millions of Americans, those of us who care about defending healthcare access need to speak up. All those involved in the Protect Our Care Bus Tour are leading the charge in this fight, and I’m proud to stand alongside them to defend the health insurance of Maine people.”

 

Senator King has been outspoken in opposition to administration moves and legislative proposals that seek to undermine the Affordable Care Act, and last month joined a group of his colleagues to introduce legislation that would overturn the administration’s final “junk insurance” plan rule, which would expand the number of insurance plans that are not required to provide health care coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. In July, Senator King cosponsored a resolution that would authorize the Senate Legal Counsel to intervene in the legal case challenging the constitutionality of the ACA’s provisions protecting people with pre-existing conditions. Also in July, he published a post on Medium highlighting the administration’s efforts to weaken the ACA. At the end of June, Senator King spoke twice Senate floor about the impact of ACA sabotage on Maine people and to honor the 53^rd anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid. Senator King has also pursued agreements that would improve the Affordable Care Act to protect coverage for the millions who rely on it for affordable health care, and has developed several proposals to make common sense fixes to the legislation. During the health care debate last summer, Senator King outlined a roadmap of health care priorities to stabilize the health care marketplace and lower the underlying costs of treatment and health coverage for people in Maine and across the country.

 

Senator King has hosted a series of health care panel discussions around the state. On Friday, he held a conversation in Damariscotta on the importance of healthcare protections to Maine people who work in high risk industries. Earlier this month, Senator King met with seniors in Kennebunk to discuss the high cost of healthcare services in prescription drugs. In August, Senator King met with Maine families on the impact of insurance protections for children living with pre-existing conditions, and in June he spoke with a panel of Maine people with pre-existing conditions, healthcare advocates and medical professionals in South Portland, following Department of Justice’s decision not to defend the guarantee of coverage for pre-existing conditions.