Janet understands that all Mainers need to be able to see a doctor, to receive preventive care, and to be able to afford critical prescription medications. That is why on her first day in office she issued an executive order directing the Department of Health and Human Services to implement Medicaid expansion as swiftly as possible. Today, 95,000 Mainers have access to life-saving health care coverage as a result.
Janet has always stood with consumers and patients in the fight for fair prescription drug prices. In the first year of her administration, she signed a comprehensive prescription drug reform package to allow the wholesale importation of prescription medicine, to create a prescription drug affordability board, to increase drug price transparency and to better regulate pharmacy benefit managers. She also restored the Maine Low-Cost Drugs for the Elderly and Disabled Program to cover an additional 1,800 Maine seniors.
She also led our state through one of the most challenging times in Maine history and led a coordinated and science-based response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite it, her administration continued to increase access to care for seniors, children and pregnant people by strengthening MaineCare.
Janet is committed to tackling the problems that remain in our health care system, including addressing the ongoing workforce shortage and ensuring high-quality care is available in rural Maine. She won’t stop until we recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic healthier and stronger.