Maine Nurses Protest Proposed MaineCare & CubCare Cuts at Sen. Collins’ Office

Maine’s $4.2 billion in Medicaid funding is on the chopping block so lawmakers can give tax cuts for corporations and billionaires. On March 20, Maine Medical Center nurses gathered at the district office of U.S. Senator Susan Collins in Portland, Maine, to protest proposed cuts to Medicaid that would deteriorate health care services in the region, announced Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (MSNA/NNOC).

Along with community organizations and MaineCare and CubCare patients, nurses presented a check made out to the "Billionaire Class” paid for by “Working People” totaling $4,182,453,166 — the amount of Medicaid funding in Maine at risk if Senator Collins votes to gut Medicaid to fund tax cuts for billionaires.

“Senator Collins, we know you care about Maine seniors and others who depend on MaineCare,” said Kirsten Lane, RN in the emergency department at Maine Med. “Voting for these cuts would be a gift given to billionaires, all on the backs of your constituents.”

Senator Collins has more than 350,000 constituents — a quarter of Maine’s population — who receive life-saving health care access provided by MaineCare and CubCare, the state’s health care programs for the elderly, disabled, and the young, which are paid for primarily by federal Medicaid funding.

“The patients we see everyday are some of the most vulnerable people in our state,” said Julianna Hansen, RN in the neurosurgical and trauma intensive care unit at Maine Med. “Our seniors, those with disabilities, and our young people are the ones who would most be hurt by cuts to MaineCare and CubCare. How can Sen. Collins and our elected representatives even consider taking away this life-saving care? Union nurses stand against any cuts to our patients’ access to Medicaid.”

According to 2023 data, more than one in five people in the U.S. had health care coverage funded by Medicaid that year. In states like California, New York, West Virginia, and Louisiana, more than one in four people were covered under Medicaid in 2023. In addition to the tens of millions of people covered under Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies — including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and National Institutes of Health (NIH) — provide essential research, guidance, and regulation that nurses and health care workers rely on for both patient care and their own health and safety. Moreover, tens of thousands of nurses are employed by the Veterans Health Administration (VA), the nation’s largest public sector health care system, which is also facing federal defunding.