Accessible Healthcare and Family Health

A doctor’s visit should never break the bank, and working parents shouldn’t have to choose between keeping their healthcare coverage and paying for child care. Accessible, reliable healthcare and early childhood care are core economic necessities for working families across Maine. In Augusta, we must tackle skyrocketing costs, expand community-based mental health services, and build the family support systems that keep our healthcare workforce on the job.

Lowering Out-of-Pocket Healthcare Costs

  • Protect & Strengthen MaineCare Coverage: I will support expanding MaineCare eligibility to bridge coverage gaps for low-income workers and small-business employees, ensuring no working family loses access to essential preventative, dental, and vision care.

  • Expand Comprehensive Maternal & Child Care: I will fight to strengthen MaineCare investments for postpartum coverage, early childhood developmental screenings, and pediatric care to ensure every child gets a healthy start.

Expanding Mental Health & Addiction Recovery

  • Grow the Local Mental Health Workforce: We must expand state student loan forgiveness and educational stipends for social workers, licensed counselors, and psychiatric specialists who commit to practicing in Maine.

  • Fund Community-Based Crisis Diversion: Mobile crisis units and peer recovery networks are at the frontlines to ensure individuals experiencing acute mental health or substance use crises receive direct medical care. I will support efforts to increase funding as it will also relieve strain on local police departments and emergency rooms.

  • Strengthen Youth & School-Based Support: To solve the long term impacts of the substance use crises, we must protect our youth. I will advocate for funding for local school districts to expand in-school mental health counseling and early intervention resources to support children and relieve pressure on educators.

Strengthening Childcare & Healthcare Workforce Support

  • Solve Healthcare Staffing Shortages with Childcare Access: We must expand regional childcare slots and subsidies so hospitals and local clinics can recruit and retain nurses, primary care doctors, and frontline medical staff without losing them to high local child care costs.

  • Integrate Pediatric Screenings & Early Learning: I will support funding early developmental screenings, maternal-infant health visits, and preventative pediatric care directly within licensed child care centers to catch developmental and health needs early.

  • Expand Universal Childcare Subsidies & Streamline Licensing: I will explore and support cutting red tape for local childcare providers and broaden state subsidies and tax credits, while ensuring safe, high-quality care that keeps working parents healthy, employed, and economically secure.