For my entire life, my mom, Cecile, has taken care of our family. With our father, she worked full time, managed the household and our busy schedules with rehearsals, practices, costumes and confections. But, in 1998, her health started to decline. She was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and with COPD, which requires her to use oxygen 24/7. After Dad passed away in 2018, it was up to my brother and I to take care of her. MaineCare, Maine’s Medicaid program, helps us do that, but Congress is considering legislation that would make deep cuts to health care coverage. I’m very concerned about what that means for my mom, thousands of other Mainers and millions of patients across the United States.

My mom qualifies for both Medicare and Medicaid, but Medicaid pays for her nursing home care. This is common — in fact, Medicaid covers 65% of nursing home residents in Maine. This coverage helps her live safely, and with dignity. My parents worked hard and took care of our family. But without Medicaid, my family, like other Maine families, could never afford the $172,000 it costs for her care.

Congress is currently considering budget reconciliation legislation that makes devastating cuts to health care — the bill that passed the House of Representatives in May included more than $1 trillion in cuts. I’m worried about what this bill will mean for my mom and other Mainers like her. For example, some of the cuts in the bill will make it harder for older adults and people with disabilities to sign up for MaineCare. Other cuts will mean Maine has to foot the bill for so much more — forcing our lawmakers to cut eligibility, reduce benefits and services and make it harder for patients to see their doctors.

I also work for the American Lung Association, so I know that this legislation will affect everyone in our health care system and be devastating for the lung health of us all. Medicaid expansion has helped many of our friends and neighbors across Maine access coverage. States that have expanded Medicaid have seen an increase in early-stage cancer diagnoses, when cancer is more treatable. The five-year survival rate for lung cancer patients is 64% when the cancer is caught before a tumor spreads, compared to just 9% if the cancer is caught at a late stage. Yet this bill decimates Medicaid expansion through work reporting requirements, mandatory copays and other cuts that add red tape, take away coverage and increase health care costs.

The bill also includes other cuts that will make health care more expensive, like failing to extend tax credits that help millions of Americans afford quality, affordable health care coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. These and other cuts will affect our entire health care system. Clinics and rural hospitals will close, making it harder for many people across Maine to access care in their local communities, and increased uncompensated care will lead to health care coverage costing more for everyone.

This legislation passed the House of Representatives in May and the Senate is considering it right now. I’m calling on Sen. Collins to reject all cuts to health care. My mother and I — and families across Maine — are counting on her to protect MaineCare and protect Maine families.