In May I kicked off a series of health care-focused events to hear from a variety of health care consumers, providers, businesses and retirees in more detail.  My goal has been to give Maine individuals and businesses a chance to weigh in on the debate over health care reform, and here’s what I’ve done so far on this tour:

On May 27, I hosted a forum with Maine nurses at USM.  Nurses from the Maine State Nurses Association, Maine Medical Center, Mid Coast Hospital, the USM College of Nursing and associations representing nurse anesthetists and perianesthesia nurses participated in the discussion. This gave me a great inside look at the challenges that are facing our nurses on the front lines of health care, and reinforced for me the need to invest in our nursing workforce.

Nurses' health care forum, May 27th, 2009.

On May 26, I met with the Business Roundtable Group in Saco and two days later a group of small business owners at the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce, where I heard more about the challenges of small business owners to pay the costs of health care insurance for employees.  As a small business owner myself, I understand these issues all too well, but I was still impressed by the unanimity in the room.

On May 28, I spoke to retired state employees about health care at the MSEA/SEIU annual Retirees Day in Augusta.  I also met with local AARP volunteers and local officials and took part in an hour long “tele-town hall” with AARP Maine Executive Director Nancy Kelleher and thousands of AARP members in Maine.

On June 5, I toured the New England Rehab Hospital in Rockland, and on June 13 I visited the Quarry Hill Long Term Care Facility in Camden.  My goal in both of these visits was to hear first hand from the people on the front lines of providing quality health care as well as consumers at these two facilities.

On June 14, I joined over 250 osteopaths at the Maine Osteopathic Association’s 98th Annual Convention to talk about today’s health care system and the changes needed to meet the challenges of tomorrow.  The osteopaths also got a chance to ask me questions and share their thoughts and ideas about the national health care reform proposal.

More recently, on July 1, I participated in an hour-long radio call-in on MPBN focused entirely on health care. People from towns across Maine called in to share their personal health stories, to ask questions about my priorities for health care reform, and to give their suggestions on how best to address the most pressing issues facing our health care system. Listen to a clip from the call-in.

Then, on July 2, I had the great pleasure to meet with more than 25 local health care interest groups, advocates and organizations, including the Maine Medical Association, Maine Hospital Association, Maine People’s Alliance, American Lung Association of Maine, Maine Dental Association, Maine Equal Justice, Maine Primary Care Association, Maine Association of Health Plans, NFIB, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Prescription Policy Choices and many others. I was struck by how united Maine organizations are in pushing for health reform.

On July 7, I held a “telephone town hall” to discuss health care reform now being considered in Congress. Over 12,000 people across the First Congressional District joined me on the phone call to ask questions, make comments, tell their stories and hear my update about the progress we’re making on health care reform in Washington.

More recently, on August 13, I met with about 25 small business leaders at the Greater York County Chamber of Commerce to discuss rising health care costs. We had a great discussion about the need for health care reform and I got a lot of valuable feedback from participants about how to build upon and improve health reform legislation.

On August 27, I joined the Maine People’s Alliance and the Maine State Employees Association (MSEA-SEIU Local 1989) in a telephone call-in with about 25 local small business owners who shared stories about their struggles with rising healthcare costs. Later that day I held a townhall in Brunswick, which was hosted by the Brunswick Downtown Association, and included more than 100 community members, small businesses, and elected and non-elected officials. I got the chance to answer questions and hear comments from Mainers about healthcare reform and other local economic issues.

On September 3, I joined Secretary Sebelius, AARP, and the Maine Women’s Lobby in a roundtable discussion with about 60 women who shared their stories and asked questions about the impact of health reform on women.

Moving forward, I hope to be able to hear from more of you about what your priorities are with this health care legislation.  I am eager to talk with you and to take your ideas and concerns back to Washington.  Please read on to learn more about what I’m doing there to fight for affordable health care coverage.