Federal Advocacy Survey and Community Paramedicine Report 

We have been hearing from a lot of our members about the rapidly changing news at the federal government and the significant impact of it on your work and your patient’s lives. It can be hard to stay up to date on everything happening. My goal is to be as helpful as possible in helping you sort through the news. 

As such, I have created this survey to hear from members about their ideas about federal advocacy. We will use your responses and conversations with our federal delegation, coalition partners, and others to create a federal advocacy guide. The hope is that this guide will help you discern the news and take small or large action to ensure the government does not interfere with your work. Please take the time to fill in all or some of it—your voice matters. 

I will share this guide when it is completed, but we will also continue to use a portion of this letter to share helpful resources and advocacy alerts. 

For today, I wanted first to share some guides on how to respond if an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer attempts to use your or your practice to ascertain a patient’s citizenship status: 

• Care Providers and Immigration Enforcement: Know Your Rights, Know Your Patients’ Rights
• Factsheet: Trump’s Rescission of Protected Areas Policies Undermines Safety for All
• Sensitive Locations/Protected Areas and Immigration Enforcement

Second, I want to share an opportunity for advocacy around extending the  Enhanced Premium Tax from Mary Erin Casale, who is working with Keep Americans Covered.  

The Enhanced Premium Tax Credit has been a game-changer for Mainers, reducing premiums, increasing access to coverage, and helping lower the state’s uninsured rate for individuals and families. This crucial initiative, which has made health care more affordable since 2021, is set to expire soon. We must act now to ensure its continuation and protect access to affordable health care for thousands of Mainers.

Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper to raise awareness and encourage members of our federal delegation to extend this vital tax credit. For guidance or help reaching out to your representatives, contact Mary-Erin Casale at [email protected]. 

For our state work, it was a busy week dedicated to representing our voices at the legislature. We submitted testimony on five bills and presented our final report on community paramedicine. Thank you to Kelly Meehan-Coussee, MD, FACEP, NRP, who represented the MMA, and Isabella Askari, DO, who represented the MOA in the workgroup.

Austin Vaughan, UNE College of Medicine student testifying in favor of  LD 163 – An Act To Require Health Insurance Coverage For Federally Approved Nonprescription Oral Hormonal Contraceptives And Nonprescription Emergency Contraceptives

James Jarvis, MD, testifying in favor of  LD 105 – An Act To Implement The Recommendations Of The Commission Regarding Foreign-trained Physicians Living In Maine To Establish A Sponsorship Program For Internationally Trained Physicians 

And here is your interesting article of the week – an opinion in the Press Herald from MMA member – Emily Hill, DO, who is the family medicine chief resident at CMCC. – Opinion: I’m alarmed by the future of health care in Maine – “Everyone needs health care, regardless of whether you have insurance, what the state pays, or whether you’re a Democrat, a Republican or an independent. People continue to stream into hospitals and doctor’s offices, and in Maine, many are showing up sicker than ever before. To keep caring for them, state legislators and Mainers must find sustainable funding solutions so that doctors, nurses, technicians and everyone else can safely and properly do their jobs and all Mainers can get the care they deserve.” 

Please reach out with any questions! 

Best,

Anne Sedlack, Esq., MSW

[email protected]