A public opinion survey question on a proposal to give people credit for work done caring for children and family members with disabilities when calculating their Social Security benefits resulted in 67.5 percent of those surveyed favoring the idea.

“Taking care of a family member is one of the most important jobs anyone can have and people who make that choice should not be penalized by having their Social Security benefits reduced,” said Congresswoman Chellie Pingree. “A caregiver credit would help preserve the future financial stability of family members who stay home or reduce their work hours to take care of a loved one. It’s good for individuals, it’s good for workers and it’s good for our whole society.”

Read more ›

This Friday and Saturday as a part of the US Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Drug Take-Back Day, the City of Portland’s Police Department in partnership with the Maine Medical Center, Rite Aid and University of New England and other drug enforcement agencies will host a medication collection drive for medications including vitamins, over-the-counter drugs, prescriptions, and veterinary drugs.

If not properly disposed of, these medications could be used illegally or cause accidental poisoning. Additionally, the city’s waste system is not designed to remove pharmaceuticals.

Read more ›

A Healthy Home team with Seth Wescott on a hike at Brabury Park after the announcement of L.L. Bean's million dollar donation promoting outside activities in Maine.

Olympic gold medalists Joan Benoit Samuelson and Seth Wescott were on hand for the announcement of a million dollar donation from L.L. Bean to Healthy Hometowns. The company’s donation will expand the now-seasonal programs at the Caribou-based Maine Winter Sports Center throughout the year and help fund ways for young people to get outside and exercise.

The donation also expands the Healthy Hometowns program from 100 locations in Maine to 400.

Read more ›

Rep. Emily Cain, Maine's Democratic Minority Leader in the state House of Representatives. photo by Ramona du Houx

Maine’s House Minority Leader, Rep. Emily Cain, sat down for an interview about this session. Cain is the spokesperson for democrats in the House of Representatives and since the LePage administration has moved in her public role has increased. Young, energetic, quick witted and intelligent she handles tense situations with ease and grace. She never backs down from her principles and has a clear understanding how to move Maine forward economically while maintaining Maine’s quality of life, Having severed on the Appropriations and Education Committees she brings unique insights to her job which helps during negotiations.

This session has been dominated by Gov. Paul LePage’s proposed cuts that would result in people losing health care. When did this all start?

Before we even arrived back in session, long before Christmas, the Appropriations Committee had held hearings on his supplemental budget that made $220 million in cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services.

First the governor tried to blame “too many people being on the program.” Then he blamed the federal government. He wouldn’t take responsibility for errors within DHHS — these were errors within his own administration — for why that cash-flow problem happened.

Read more ›

Maine Olympian Julia Clukey at Freeport highschool

Olympian Julia Clukey is passionate about her country and her health, two of the many reasons why she was the keynote speaker for Freeport High School’s 2nd Annual Spirit Day for Wellness. As part of her presentation, Clukey shared a short video highlighting her luge career and spoke about her commitment to her health and the responsibilities that come with being an Olympian. In addition to her training regimen and nutrition, she also shared the experiences she had growing up and the challenges she has faced, emphasizing the importance of responsibility and healthy life choices.

“By sharing my experiences, I want to help students understand the responsibility we all have to care about our health. Every day we all make decisions about what we eat and drink that have an impact on our body. Understanding the importance of nutrition and making good decisions can make a huge difference in how we act and feel on a daily basis,” said Clukey.

Read more ›

House lawmakers voted overwhelmingly today to give initial approval to a bill that would limit the cost of specialty prescription drugs for Maine families. The House earlier defeated a motion to kill the bill by a vote of 108 – 34.During the floor debate Republicans joined with Democrats to voice support for the bill.

“I have no doubt that this bill will result in saving lives and dramatically improving the quality of life for Maine people with certain serious health conditions,” said Rep. Sharon Treat, the lead Democrat on the Insurance and Financial Services Committee. “When the cost of drug treatment can reach $100,000 a year, insurance companies need to follow reasonable rules and limit patients’ out-of-pocket costs.”

Read more ›

Forty-one Members of Congress have signed onto Congresswoman Chellie Pingree’s effort to convince the Obama Administration to ban pink slime from school cafeterias.

“McDonald’s won’t serve pink slime. Wal-Mart won’t sell it. And Maine school officials have said they’ll stop buying it,” said Pingree. “I think Americans have been pretty clear how disgusting they think this stuff is.”

Recently the U. S. Department of Agriculture authorized the purchase of 7 million pounds of the substance, called ‘finely textured lean beef trimmings’ by the beef industry, to be used in school lunches.

Read more ›

State lawmakers today held a public hearing on a measure to better inform women about the density of their breast tissue to prevent missed cancer diagnoses. Mammograms can miss early signs of breast cancer in women with dense breast tissue. According to the national breast density advocacy group “Are You Dense?” 40 percent of women have dense breasts.

“Dense breast tissue may impede a mammogram from finding abnormalities,” said Rep. Terry Hayes the assistant House Democratic leader. “These are our breasts and we deserve to know. It is common sense that this information should be shared with women.”

Read more ›

National Poison Prevention Week is March 18-24. Each year, hundreds of Maine’s children are poisoned by lead.
Lead is a metal that has had many uses, mostly in paints, and is found in many buildings built before 1978. It can be found in peeling or chipping paint, dust on windowsills, floors or doorways, in soil and dirt in your yard, or in tap water from lead piping. Lead can also be found in some toys and old painted furniture.

When lead gets into the body, it poisons and harms people. Children under the age of six are at most risk since they often put their hands and objects into their mouth. Even a very small amount of lead dust can cause learning disabilities, behavior problems, hearing or speech problems, and lower intelligence. This can affect how well your child will do in school and in his or her future development.

Read more ›

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree hosted a women's panel in Portland to defend funding for women's health issues

Democratic female lawmakers in the Maine House and Senate sent a letter to Attorney General William Schneider urging him to stop participating in a national effort threatening a federal law that requires insurance companies to cover contraceptives for all women, no matter where they work.

The letter, signed by 32 Democratic women serving in the State House and Senate, reads:

“We are urging you to remove your name from the effort to threaten a law that simply ensures all women have access to preventative health care in our state and country. As women, we know this issue goes straight to the core of our health. We also know that Maine people believe women should have access to birth control no matter where they work.”

Read more ›