{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/in-damariscotta-king-highlights-importance-of-healthcare-protections-to-maine-people-working-in-high-risk-industries-", "In Damariscotta, King Highlights Importance of Healthcare Protections To Maine People Working in High Risk Industries", "2018-09-21", "2018", "2018-09", "Independent", "House", "ME", "Angus King", "K000383", "www.king.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "BRUNSWICK, ME\r\nToday, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) met with Maine people at Lincoln\r\nHealth Education Center in Damariscotta to highlight the impact of protections\r\nfor individuals with pre-existing conditions, as well as the importance of\r\ncommunity rating, another provision of the\r\nAffordable Care Act (ACA) which requires health insurance providers to offer\r\npolicies within a given territory at the same price to all potential customers.\r\nThese protections are particularly important to workers involved in the\r\nnatural resource industries that drive Maine's rural economy; while Maine law\r\ndoes include some protections that would remain in place if the ACA's\r\nprotections were overturned, it does not prohibit health insurance companies\r\nfrom increasing prices for people based on their occupation, creating increased\r\nrisks for those working in industries such as fishing, forestry and farming.   Maine people\r\nliving with medical conditions should be able to get health insurance at a reasonable\r\nprice, rather than charged astronomical prices simply because of what they do\r\nfor a living,said Senator King. The lobstermen and farmers I met\r\ntoday are a vital part of our state's economy  we should be supporting them,\r\nnot allowing health insurance companies to discriminate against them. This\r\nisn't a matter of ideology  it's about keeping our citizens healthy, and\r\nsupporting Maine workers. I'll keep fighting to defend the health insurance of\r\nMaine people, however, whenever, and as strongly as I possibly can.  Following the\r\nevent, Senator King released a video sharing his thoughts on the event, which\r\ncan be seen HERE. Today's\r\ndiscussion is a continuation of a series of conversations on healthcare around\r\nthe state. Earlier this month, Senator\r\nKing met with seniors in Kennebunk to discuss the high cost of healthcare\r\nservices in prescription drugs. In August, Senator King\r\nmet\r\nwith Maine families on the impact of insurance protections for\r\nchildren living with pre-existing conditions, and in June he spoke\r\nwith a panel of Maine people with pre-existing conditions, healthcare advocates\r\nand medical professionals in South Portland, following Department of\r\nJustice's decision not to defend the guarantee of coverage for pre-existing\r\nconditions.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nSenator King has\r\nbeen outspoken in opposition to administration moves and legislative proposals\r\nthat seek to undermine the Affordable Care Act, and last month joined a group\r\nof his colleagues to introduce\r\nlegislation that would overturn the administration's final junk insurance\r\nplan rule, which would expand the number of insurance plans that are not\r\nrequired to provide health care coverage for people with pre-existing\r\nconditions. In July, Senator King cosponsored a\r\nresolution that would authorize the Senate Legal Counsel to intervene in the\r\nlegal case challenging the constitutionality of the ACA's provisions\r\nprotecting people with pre-existing conditions. Also in July, he published a\r\npost on Mediumhighlighting\r\nthe Administration's efforts to weaken the ACA. At the end of June, Senator King spoke twice Senate floor\r\nabout the impact\r\nof ACA sabotage on Maine people and to honor\r\nthe 53rd anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid. Senator\r\nKing has also pursued agreements that would improve the Affordable Care Act to\r\nprotect coverage for the millions who rely on it for affordable health care,\r\nand has developed several proposals to make common sense fixes to the\r\nlegislation. During the health care debate last summer, Senator Kingoutlined\r\naroadmap of health care prioritiesto stabilize the health care\r\nmarketplace and lower the underlying costs of treatment and health coverage for\r\npeople in Maine and across the country.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/in-damariscotta-king-highlights-importance-of-healthcare-protections-to-maine-people-working-in-high-risk-industries-"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9292839094996452, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}