Pharmacy deserts. Rising costs. Workforce shortages and funding gaps. Uncertainty from Washington. And a host of challenges facing health care providers across the state with the country\u2019s oldest population.<\/p>\n
Maine\u2019s health care system\u00a0and the struggles Mainers face gaining and keeping access to affordable care and medicine are already major flashpoints in the wide-open race to replace outgoing Democratic Gov. Janet Mills.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a mess everywhere,\u201d former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, said Wednesday at an Augusta forum featuring nine gubernatorial candidates hosted by the Maine Primary Care Association.<\/p>\n
The candidates \u2014 four Democrats, four independents and one Republican \u2014 all agreed that Maine\u2019s next governor must tackle an increasingly costly and complex health care crisis. Several have already released health plans<\/a>, though on Wednesday they differed on how and where to focus spending.<\/p>\n Some common themes emerged, including bolstering workforce programs, expanding technological innovation and pharmaceutical delivery options. Democrats were focused on combating both the insurance industry and President Donald Trump\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n \u201cWith Donald Trump setting his sights on the state of Maine, this next election has outsized importance,\u201d Nirav Shah, who became a familiar face leading the pandemic response as Maine\u2019s public health chief, said. \u201cIt will only be through governors, and the state governments that they lead, where our health, our safety, our welfare, and our rights, are protected.\u201d<\/p>\n Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a former state senator, touted a bipartisan track record and efforts to fight the pharmaceutical industry and Trump. She said she was passionate about health care in part because she grew up in poverty.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s really important that we incorporate health care funding and primary care funding into the governor\u2019s baseline budget, so you don\u2019t have to argue over dollars and cents every single year,\u201d she said. \u201cIt should be sustainable, ongoing support to primary care to keep your doors open.\u201d<\/p>\n Jackson redoubled his support for Medicare for all but recognized universal coverage would be hard for Maine to accomplish on its own. He pledged to take on \u201cBig Pharma,\u201d noting his measures on the subject that fell vetoes from Mills \u2014 including two in 2021<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 due to longstanding constitutional concerns.<\/p>\n \u201cWe could be doing that right here in Maine and that would be saving a lot of people money across the state,\u201d he said of an effort to cap costs.<\/p>\n