Bryant backs bill to increase women’s
access to health care
AUGUSTA—Low-income women would have
greater access to essential health care services under a measure backed by Rep.
Mark Bryant, D-Windham.
LD 319, An Act To Strengthen the
Economic Stability of Qualified Maine Citizens by Expanding Coverage of
Reproductive Health Care and Family Services, allows for uninsured and
underinsured low-income women to have access to important preventative services
such as cancer screenings, annual exams, Pap tests, birth control and STD
testing. The measure empowers women to make decisions about starting a family
and prevents unintended pregnancy.
“These clinics provide a wide array of
health services and can often discover other health issues outside of those
related to family planning,” said Bryant, a cosponsor of the bill. “By
expanding availability of this kind of care, we would increase the likelihood
of detecting cervical and breast cancer among Maine women along with other
potential health issues.”
Under the measure, the federal
government would pay $9 for each dollar of state funds that goes toward the
effort. Maine would join the 32 states that have already seen benefits by
providing healthcare services to low-income women. The bill would provide
publicly funded preventative health care to adults up to 209 percent of the
federal poverty level, approximately $23,000 for a household of one.
One-third of all
American women are living very close to the
poverty line, earning less than $47,000 per year for a family of four.
Thousands of Maine women and the children who depend on them are one unexpected
expense away from financial collapse.
The first-year savings to Maine are
conservatively estimated at $100,000 and, by the third year, the state would
save nearly $2 million.
The bill specifically does not cover
abortion services. Federal law prohibits these funds being used for abortion
services.
A similar bill passed the Legislature in
2014 but did not survive a veto from the governor.
Rep.
Bryant sponsors bill to protect children from identity misuse
AUGUSTA
– Legislation to protect children from identity misuse will be heard by the
Committee on Health and Human Services this session. The bill aims to prevent
parents from using their child’s Social Security number to secure temporary
financial assistance.
“Lower-income
families can easily fall on hard times — often through no fault of their own,”
said Rep. Mark Bryant, D-Windham, the bill’s primary sponsor. “Under pressure,
some turn to drastic measures in order to support the ones they love.”
Since
the recession, a national trend has emerged of caretakers using the name,
address and Social Security number of an entrusted minor in order to secure
finances, such as mortgages and private student loans. The loans are not paid
back and the child’s credit is ruined. Often, these minors do not know their
identity has been misused until they request a credit check years later.
Bryant’s
bill, LD 219, would establish a process by which the Department of Health and
Human Services can inquire as to whether or not a family is misusing the
identity of a child when applying for cash or health assistance.
“My
bill is not intended as an attack on those parents who would go to such extreme
measures to get by,” said Bryant. “They are not criminals with malicious
intent. They are people who are simply trying to stay afloat through incredibly
challenging times.”
For
more information on the bill, which will receive a public hearing in the coming
weeks, visit: http://legislature.maine.gov/LawMakerWeb/summary.asp?ID=280054374
Bryant
is serving his fifth non-consecutive term in the Maine House and represents
part of Windham.
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