Maine patients and advocates fight to save rural hospitals as federal Medicaid cuts loom

October 8, 2025

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In the face of Republican cuts to Medicaid, Mainers around the state canvassed at health care providers at increased or immediate risk of closure.

View photos and video here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tmCmsvR7kCARak_AjjbMnp_RsTtHI2Ub?usp=sharing 

Mainers visited hospitals across the state today, several of which are facing the threat of closure due to Republican cuts to Medicaid, to speak with patients and health care providers about their concerns. These patients and health care workers rely on these hospitals for everyday and lifesaving health care, as well as for employment. 

Carolyn McNamara (she/her), a provider at B Street Health Center in Lewiston, said, “We’re really concerned about the Medicaid cuts. We’re in a situation in Maine where a lot of people rely on MaineCare. It’s a pretty cost effective system to prevent people from ending up in the hospital, prevent people from being out of work, prevent people from having more complicated issues that will cost more money in the future. So, we’re really hoping that things don’t go in that direction so that we can continue to provide preventative care.”

Republicans in Congress made the decision to brutally cut the programs that give many of us access to health care. Because of those cuts, more than 57,000 Mainers will likely lose their health insurance coverage. 

Jim Parakilas (he/him), a volunteer with Maine People’s Alliance’s federal issues team, said, “Republicans in Congress and the White House have created a perfect storm for everyone who uses these facilities: throwing people off MaineCare and making health insurance policies through the ACA marketplace unaffordable closes the doors of hospitals and doctors’ offices to great numbers of Mainers, and denying those federal supports to great numbers of Mainers will mean a number of Maine hospitals closing their doors to everyone.”

Under the current Republican budget, Mainers will see their premiums increase an average of nearly 24% (4% higher than the national average) on the ACA individual marketplace, which has about 71,000 enrollees in Maine. 

The budget could also lead to the closure of several rural hospitals. If this happens, thousands of Mainers will be forced to drive hours to receive care—or worse, go without the care they need and either get sicker or in the worst case, die. 

At-risk rural hospitals in the state include Aroostook Medical Center in Presque Isle and Northern Light Maine Coast Hospital in Ellsworth, according to the organization Protect Our Care. The Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform identifies five rural hospitals at immediate risk of shutting down.

Megan Smith (she/her), a Bangor community organizer with Maine People’s Alliance, spoke with patients and providers at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. She said, “It is crucial that our members of Congress fight to keep our hospitals open, especially those in rural areas, because Mainers depend on them both for routine, everyday care and for lifesaving treatments. Our communities can’t afford to lose these institutions and our neighbors can’t afford cuts to Medicaid. We are urging our elected officials to stand by the constituents they serve, not Trump and his billionaire friends.”

Advocates urged Maine’s members of Congress to fight to ensure that we can all get care—by extending the tax credits that allow many people to buy insurance on the marketplace, restoring Medicaid funding, and making sure our rural hospitals have what they need to stay open.

In addition to talking with patients and providers in Bangor and Lewiston, advocates also spoke with people at MaineHealth Stephens Hospital in Norway and Northern Light Maine Coast Hospital in Ellsworth.

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With more than 32,000 members, MPA is the largest community organization in Maine, and one of the largest in the country. We work together on issues that include but are not limited to housing, care, climate change and environmental justice, health care access, racial justice, and immigrant rights.

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Contact: Kate Gardner, [email protected]