Westbrook, MAINE - On the one year anniversary of Republican Congressman Bruce Poliquin’s vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Maine Democratic Party Chairman Phil Bartlett issued the following statement:

“Congressman Poliquin was the only member of Maine’s Congressional delegation to vote to strip tens of thousands of Maine people of their health care and drive up the costs for many more. The bill he supported would have disproportionately hurt older Mainers and those in rural parts of the state. In fact, it was so bad that that President Trump even called it ‘mean’.

“The sad fact is that Congressman Poliquin has lost touch with the people of Maine’s 2nd Congressional district, voting to eliminate their health insurance, sharply increase their costs, cut deeply into their Medicaid, and plunge rural hospitals and the communities they support into economic peril. All because he wanted to tow the party line.

“But the worst part is that this is not an isolated vote: he has repeatedly voted to rollback the Affordable Care Act and it’s critical protections and to increase the costs of health insurance for Maine people.

“It’s clear that the only way to protect the health care of people in Maine is to send Congressman Poliquin packing.”

Previously, Congressman Poliquin has falsely stated that the bill would only impact 7 percent of Mainers, but it was shown that the bill contained deep cuts to Medicaid, and studies revealed that the much of the harm done by the law would would be felt most in rural communities and by older Mainers.

###