Your Voice Makes a Difference!
Many of you have read articles and emails from us, asking you to share your stories.
You know that we want to hear stories of why MaineCare is important to your family, why some families may need to rely on
TANF for more than five years, or why Unemployment Insurance for part-time workers is so important. You may wonder if we get
responses to these requests, what we do with the stories, and whether they have any impact on the work we do.
The answer is YES! We do get responses and they have a very positive impact on our efforts to improve the lives of people
with low income in Maine. We’d like to share one such story and how it made a difference during the 2007 legislative session.
Several bills under consideration in the last legislative session would have required large increases in co-pays and other
out-of-pocket costs for adults on MaineCare. They would have put health care out of reach for many people.
We needed to clearly show legislators how their proposals would affect Maine families.
This is what one woman—a single working mom with a two-year old child—shared in her testimony to the Health and Human Services
Committee:
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Once I pay for my rent, which is not subsidized, I’ve spent more than half of my monthly take home pay. On top of that I have to
pay electricity, heat, phone, car insurance, and a portion of the daycare costs for my daughter. Being very frugal I’ve mostly
been able to keep my food budget within the limits I receive in WIC and Food Stamps.
Of course, there are occasional or unanticipated expenses that come up all too
frequently, such as car repairs or clothing for my growing daughter. I’m on my feet 9 to 10 hours a day at work and I need a new
pair of shoes. They’re just not in the budget this month and I doubt they’ll fit into my budget next month. Even these expenses
which would cause little more than a blip for a middle income person, can set me behind for weeks, even months.
My money runs out every month before my bills are fully paid. I juggle to pay my rent and prevent Central Maine Power from
coming to my door and following through on the electrical disconnect notices that I always have.
If I was required to pay 10% of the cost of a prescription medication for myself, or 10% of the cost of a visit to my doctor, it would
prevent me from going. I love my daughter very much but it’s difficult being a single parent of a 2-year old. I wouldn’t want to
add to that the stress of trying to be a good parent when I’m sick or having worries about symptoms I’m experiencing that I can’t get
diagnosed.
I’m a good worker and a good parent. Sometimes it’s a difficult balance. Access to health care, which for us means MaineCare, helps
a great deal towards both of those ends. Please don’t add yet another burden to that access that families like mine cannot absorb.
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Two other MAIN members shared their stories with the legislative committee at this hearing. They told of struggling to make ends meet
and the challenges of having family members with disabilities. They talked about why increased cost sharing would create barriers to
their access to health care.
Members of the Committee were very moved by their testimony. Some even left the hearing to personally thank the women for helping
them to understand the impact their decisions could have on their families, as well as other families in Maine. Later in the day the
same Committee debated another harmful piece of legislation. One Committee member cautioned them to remember the three women who had
spoken on the earlier bill, and to keep them in mind when considering this bill as well.
In the end, legislators rejected these proposals that would have hurt MaineCare members, thanks in part to the testimony offered
by these individuals. Maine is a small state and when legislators hear from their constituents it has an impact. Your
stories do make a difference!
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