PORTLAND, ME – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) today joined patients, health care providers and advocates at Martin’s Point Health Care in Portland to discuss efforts to reduce health insurance premiums and stabilize the marketplace under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

            “The Affordable Care Act has helped millions of Americans get health care coverage, but still, there is more work to be done,” Senator King said. “Members of Congress must come together to help solve the issues in the health care marketplace and make common sense fixes to the ACA so the American people receive the high-quality, accessible, and affordable coverage they deserve. By lowering the underlying costs of coverage – which remain far too high across the country – and stabilizing the marketplace, we can make real progress for hardworking men and women looking to care for their families and lead happy, healthy lives. I am grateful for the dedication of the good Maine people I heard from at Martin’s Point today, and will carry their ideas with me back to Washington.”

Senator King has been outspoken in his desire to 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. He is a cosponsor of the bipartisan bill introduced by Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murrary (D-Wash.) to stabilize the individual health insurance marketplace.

Last year, Senator King conducted an Open Enrollment information tour during the shortened sign-up period, holding events in South Portland, Lewiston, and Bangor to help Maine people sign up for health care through the ACA during the reduced six-week Open Enrollment window. Following the severe October storm that caused many people in Maine to lose power, Sen. King successfully lobbied Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to grant Maine people a Special Enrollment Period that lasted through the end of 2017.

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