With the U.S. Senate back in session and the White House refocused on the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s time for our leaders to craft an effective coronavirus relief bill to help families through this crisis. There are lots of proposals floating around, so we need our best policymakers to step to the fore.
This includes Sen. Susan Collins, whose Paycheck Protection Program was among the most carefully targeted and highest impact measures from the first several rounds of COVID-19 stimulus. Small businesses and employees across Maine are grateful for this program and would like to see more great ideas from her.
In addition to passing more support for independent businesses, the best thing she could do now is to advance some form of health coverage assistance. Too many Mainers lost their health insurance when they lost their jobs, and this has left families in financial jeopardy and without sufficient access to care.
Sadly, it looks like the novel coronavirus and its economic impacts may be with us for a while. We cannot expect the workers sitting on the sidelines to go without health coverage for months — at least not if we expect them to remain healthy enough to return to work and help us drive our economy forward. And we cannot expect families to feel comfortable spending money with local businesses and on American-made products if they’re worried about what would happen if they have a medical emergency.
The key to complete economic rebound will be to beat COVID-19 so we can all get back to normal. In the meantime, our economy will be stronger if we can keep our families and our workforce strong. For that, we need a health coverage solution — and we need Sen. Collins to deliver it.
Rep. Scott Strom
R-Pittsfield
Send questions/comments to the editors.
