Health experts and advocates are prioritizing a variety of issues in the upcoming legislative session, from tobacco taxes and artificial intelligence protections to measures that address children’s behavioral health, cannabis medical and labor shortages.
Matt Wellington, assistant director of the Maine Public Health Association, said his organization will push to increase the tobacco tax, which he said has not been raised in 20 years, in order to support efforts to reduce the rate. without cancer.
Maine has a higher cancer rate than the national average, yet it has one of the lowest tobacco taxes in the region.
“One in three carers will face a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime,” Wellington said. “We are very focused on educating legislators about all the tools we have to prevent cancer and reduce the cancer rate in our state.”
MPHA also supports efforts to improve homeowners’ codes to create safer homes that can handle extreme weather and hot days by not venting and ensuring that water damage is covered. prevent mold.
Wellington also emphasized to expand the scope of the issues, the local health boards are allowed to focus more than the current situation of problems such as rats, and to establish a test, evaluate and follow the need of the medical program of cannabis.
Dr. Henk Goorhuis, chairman of the legislative committee of the Maine Medical Association, said he was concerned about the use of artificial intelligence by denying the prior approval of health insurance companies and said that there are measures the government can take it.
Both Goorhuis and Dr. Scott Hanson, the president of the MMA, emphasized the strict protection of gun safety.
“The Maine Medical Association, and the Maine Gun Safety Coalition and the American Academy of Pediatricians … we all don’t believe that Maine’s system is as good as it could be,” Hanson said.
Goorhuis added that although he thinks that Maine has moved forward with independence to have children, it will be important to watch what can happen at the federal level and whether there will be consequences here in Maine.
Jess Maurer, executive director of the Maine Council on Aging, and Arthur Phillips, economic policy analyst with the Maine Center for Economic Policy, both said they are working on an omnibus bill to expand the critical workforce care and support and closing care gaps. .
Maurer said the bill would include wage increases for Mainers who care for the elderly and people with mental and physical disabilities; efforts to study gaps in care; the use of technology to monitor how people receive care; and create a certificate for all employees.
Phillips said he hopes lawmakers will push for a 140 percent minimum wage reimbursement. A report he released this summer estimated that the state needs 2,300 full-time care workers, and called for Medicaid reimbursement rates for direct care to be increased.
Maurer said Area Agencies on Aging is “overwhelmed” by the demand for services and at least three have waiting lists for Meals on Wheels. He is pushing for a bill that would increase funding for these organizations and the services they provide.
John Brautigam, with Legal Services for the Elderly of Maine, said his organization is focused on ensuring that the expansion of the Medicare Savings Program is implemented as planned.
He pursues consumer protection initiatives, including those related to medical debt collection, and supports proposed regulations for housing assistance programs, which will go to lawmakers this term.
Brautigam said he is also advocating legislation that would protect the homes of Mainers, adequate funding for public legal service providers and possible measures to restore the probate court system to match it with other state courts.
Jeffrey Austin, vice president of government affairs for the Maine Hospital Association, said he is focused on protecting the federal 340B program, which allows qualified providers, such as nonprofit hospitals and health centers eligible, to buy certain drugs at a discount.
Austin says the program is important for serving certain populations, including those who are unstable, but the pharmaceutical industry is trying to “destroy” the program. He said Maine hospitals lost about $75 million last year because of problems with the program.
Katie Fullam Harris, chief government affairs officer for MaineHealth, also emphasized defending 340B. He said that while it is a federal program, there are steps Maine can take to protect it at the local level, as other states have done.
Both Austin and Harris say there is more work to be done in terms of providing health services for children so they don’t end up in hospital emergency rooms or intensive care units. mind. Harris said there could be more bills aimed at increasing in-home support systems and creating more housing.
Austin said there’s a second part of Mainers stuck in hospitals: seniors who don’t have a place to be released. Improving the long-term care eligibility process will make this more effective. For example, there is currently a mileage limit on how far away someone can be placed in long-term care, but that no longer makes sense because of nursing home closings, he said.
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