Augusta, Maine – In case you missed it, coverage continues to highlight the impact Susan Collins’ “key” “pivotal vote” to advance the GOP tax bill is having on Maine as GOP Medicaid cuts force primary care clinics close across Maine.

According to multiple reports, Maine Family Planning closing its primary care services could affect “about 8,000 Mainers who accessed health care through the provider’s 18 clinics and mobile medical unit last year,” and “800 patients in Aroostook and Hancock counties will now need to find new primary care providers.”

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ABC 7/Fox 22 Bangor: Hundreds of Mainers losing primary care services amid Maine Family Planning practice closures
By Grace Blanchard

 

  • ELLSWORTH -- Hundreds of Mainers are losing their primary care providers after the closure this week of Maine Family Planning's three primary care practices in the region. According to the organization, the closures are a consequence of revoked Medicaid funding.

  • As of Nov. 1, Maine Family Planning, which operates 18 clinics statewide, has closed its primary care practices, located in Ellsworth, Presque Isle and Houlton, affecting more than 600 patients.

  • "Reducing the number of total healthcare providers available to Medicaid patients is going to be devastating both for those patients and the public health system in general," said Meetra Mehdizadeh, Senior Staff Attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights.  

  • The largest reproductive health network says its Medicaid funding was cut off by the Trump Administration due to parameters in the reconciliation bill that prevents Medicaid money from reaching abortion providers.

  • "Cutting providers out of Medicaid is not going to help [public] health, it is going to harm patients, it is disrupting these provider patents relationships and Maine Family Planning has been filling a really essential role in providing healthcare to rural Mainers," said Mehdizadeh.

Maine Beacon: Rural Mainers lose primary care access due to Medicaid funding cuts
By Kathryn Carley, Maine News Service

  • The largest network of reproductive health clinics serving rural Mainers has closed its primary care operations due to Medicaid funding cuts.

  • A provision within the federal budget reconciliation bill passed earlier this year prohibits reimbursements for any provider whose services include abortion.

  • Olivia Pennington, director of advocacy and community engagement for Maine Family Planning, said more than half the network’s patients live in remote areas already struggling with a health care shortage.

  • “We have providers who see patients across generations of the same family,” Pennington pointed out. “People trust us because we’ve earned their trust.”

  • She noted roughly 70% of patients rely exclusively on the network for their health care needs, with many people already driving long distances for cancer screenings or wellness visits. The network will continue to provide reproductive health services through the use of grants and private donations.

  • Maine Family Planning runs 18 clinics and a mobile unit serving some 8,000 patients. Abortion makes up just a small percentage of its overall operations. It receives close to $2 million in Medicaid reimbursements each year and federal law already prohibits funds from covering the procedure.

See more coverage: Susan Collins-Enabled Medicaid Cuts Force Maine Family Planning to Stop Primary Care Services

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