Maine's Legislature must regulate prescription drug prices

Hundreds of thousands of Mainers, both young and old, rely on prescription medication to remain healthy. But big pharmaceutical companies keep hiking up their prices year after year, making it harder for many to access the medication they need.

Over 200,000 Mainers have gone without care or prescribed medication due to the cost at some point. And the pandemic has only made it worse.

Sign here to tell your legislators: it’s time to put patients before profit.

With many Mainers still looking for work while drug prices continue to spike, thousands more will be forced to either ration the medication they desperately need, or go without it entirely.

As Big Pharma continues to increase their prices simply to make a profit, many Maine families are forced to choose between paying for basic necessities, like heating their home or putting food on the table, and affording their prescription medication. This is unconscionable.

That’s why we’re proud to support State Senator Ned Claxton’s new bill, which will help protect Mainers from unnecessary price increases on prescription medication.

This bill makes prescription drug manufacturers subject to fines if they increase their drug prices without providing adequate evidence to support it. Sign here to tell your elected representatives to support this bill.

Big Pharma’s unsupported price increases contribute significantly to our ever-rising healthcare costs, and have an outsized effect on older Mainers, middle-to-low-income families, and people living with disabilities.

By forcing Big Pharma to provide evidence to support increases in prices, Maine can ensure that prescription medication is accessible and affordable, and that all pricing is transparent.

We need Mainers safe and healthy, now and long after this pandemic. Having access to their prescribed medication is an important part of that.

Taxes matter – it’s time for the top to pay their fair share

Mainers were facing struggles before this pandemic began. Schools are underfunded. Healthcare costs are sky-high. And our state’s investments in our communities, like infrastructure, childcare, and housing, have fallen behind in the last several years.

Our state’s tax code is part of the problem. While working families and small businesses have been paying their fair share, big corporations and the wealthiest few have received years of tax breaks. No more.

Mainers For Working Families is proud to join the new coalition, Mainers for Tax Fairness.

"We cannot build our state’s recovery on the backs of working families who are struggling to get by," said Speaker Ryan Fecteau, who addressed the Coalition at our launch event. He’s absolutely right.

The way we can recover is by closing corporate tax loopholes and ending the LePage tax cuts for those at the top.

This could not generate enough revenue to fuel our recovery, and put money back where it belongs – with our people and in our communities. Not only that, but we can ensure that our economy is stronger and more equitable for years to come.

Follow Mainers for Tax Fairness on Facebook and Twitter to learn more about the coalition!

Taxes matter. They’re how we ensure a good quality of life for every family, and build stronger communities. It’s past time to clean up our tax code.

Mainers need affordable healthcare in 2021

We’re now a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, and Mainers are still hurting. Healthcare costs continue to skyrocket and it's even harder to access than it was before. Currently, one in 12 Mainers lacks health care entirely, and one in five Maine adults can’t afford a $400 emergency.

We have to do better. There are multiple solutions that our leaders can utilize to help solve the dwindling availability of quality, affordable healthcare.

• Continuing the Health Insurance Assessment at the state level: If Maine were to reinstate the Health Insurance Assessment at the state level, it could generate more than $30 million in revenue that otherwise would be pocketed by insurance companies. This money can be used for COVID-19 relief.
  

• Creating a statewide Health Care Affordability Board: This board would collect data and diagnose problems in our healthcare system to help us properly fund solutions. This could curb surprise medical bills and make treatment for COVID-19 and other health issues more accessible for lower-income Mainers.
  

• Capping prescription drug prices in Maine: Maine can regulate the cost of life-saving prescription drugs and deter price gouging by Big Pharma to make medication more affordable.

While ongoing vaccine distribution brings us closer to the light at the end of the tunnel, Maine will feel the virus’s impact for years to come. We need to do all we can to make healthcare affordable and accessible for all Mainers in order to meet these challenges.

For more information on these policies, visit our Health Care page.