Health Care

Too many Mainers struggle with the high cost of health care. Americans spend twice as much on health care as other advanced countries, but we still receive worse health outcomes. Whether it’s unaffordable insurance premiums, the skyrocketing cost of medication, or an hours-long drive to see an expensive specialist, it’s clear our healthcare system is broken.

One major factor is the ever-increasing cost of prescription drugs. At a time when Big Pharma is raking in huge profits, millions of Americans can’t afford the medications they need. 

That’s why Jared voted for the Inflation Reduction Act, legislation that includes meaningful, common-sense reforms to the Medicare program to lower costs and ensure seniors can afford their medicine. As he has long advocated, the bill enabled Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs, which is estimated to save the Medicare program over $100 billion over a decade. The bill also:

• caps out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 per year for seniors covered by Medicare;
• limits the monthly cost of insulin to $35 for Medicare beneficiaries, protecting an estimated 36,000 Mainers from insulin prices that have nearly doubled in the last decade; and
• penalizes drug manufacturers that increase prices under Medicare at a rate higher than inflation.

Jared is also focused on the unique needs of Maine’s 2nd Congressional District. When pharmaceutical industries tried to do away with the printed medication information packets that come with prescription drugs, Jared secured language in the appropriations bill to stop them — ensuring that Mainers would always get the information they need to and protecting hundreds of jobs at the Twin Rivers Paper Mill in Madawaska, which produces the pamphlets. 

To support too-often-neglected rural healthcare needs, Jared secured $1 million to combat the opioid crisis in Aroostook County, and over$540,000to improve rural Maine health centers.  

Jared knows many Mainers work with their hands and it takes a toll on their bodies. That’s why he supports legislation to allow Americans between the ages of 50 and 64 to buy into Medicare. People who buy into the new plan could reduce their annual premiums by thousands of dollars — crucial progress for middle-aged Mainers who face rising healthcare costs but have not yet reached retirement age. Recognizing the distinct hazards of lobster fishing, Jared introduced a bill to increase access to health and safety services for commercial fishermen — with specific focus on providing access to mental health resources — because the sustainability of this industry depends as much on the holistic health of our fisherman as it does on our stable fishery stocks.

Jared has championed womens’ reproductive freedoms throughout his career in public service. Jared has been an outspoken critic of efforts to push government between women and their doctors in their deeply personal healthcare decisions. Jared believes strongly in women’s right to choose how and when to start or grow a family, which is why he’s supported bills to restore the rights lost when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, protect access to contraception, and block new restrictions on women’s access to reproductive healthcare across state lines and by mail. Jared will continue working to restore womens’ constitutional right to reproductive freedom and fight any harmful restrictions.