Talk of the Towns 12/8/21: Working Toward Universal Health Care in Maine

Producer/Host: Ron Beard What are Maine voters being asked to consider… what does the referendum question intend to change/create? Outline the concept of health insurance… how is health care paid for in Maine ( private pay and insurance: private, employer-based, publicly supported (Medicare, Medicaid/Maine Care) What would Universal Health Care do for consumers, employers, health care providers, insurance companies? Are there predicted health outcomes that we can anticipate, based on how the concept works elsewhere? Is Universal Health Care as you are proposing it the same as Medicare for All… how is it different? Who is covered under the present system, how well are they covered, who is left out? Remind us about the referendum process in Maine… how does it work… what is the role of groups like Maine Health Care Action… what is the role of citizens, of the legislature, of the Governor with initiatives like this? Guests: Lisa Savage, Maine Health Care Action board member, retired educator, Skowhegan Rachel Herbener, volunteer, Belfast Valerie Dornan, volunteer, retired teacher, experience NHS in England, Hancock Bill Clark, Maine Health Care Action Board member, retired physician, Brunswick About the host: Ron Beard is producer and host of Talk of the Towns, which first aired on WERU in 1993 as part of his community building work as an Extension professor with University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant. He took all the journalism courses he could fit in while an undergraduate student in wildlife management and served as an intern with Maine Public Television nightly newscast in the early 1970s. Ron is an adjunct faculty member at College of the Atlantic, teaching courses on community development. Ron served on the Bar Harbor Town Council for six years and is currently board chair for the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor, where he has lived since 1975. Look for him on the Allagash River in June, and whenever he can get away, in the highlands of Scotland where he was fortunate to spend two sabbaticals.