Recently, I received a letter from my legislators, Rep. Jeffery Hanley, R-Pittston, and Sen. Earle McCormick, R-West Gardiner, congratulating me on being named on the dean’s list during the fall 2015 semester at the University of Maine at Augusta, where I am a full-time student in my third year of the veterinary technology program.

That letter closed with an offer of assistance with any state-related matter. I am writing today to take my legislators up on that offer and respectfully urge them to vote in favor of bill L.D. 633, a bill that would allow Maine to accept the federal funding available to cover more people through our Medicaid program.

I recently turned 21, and when I did, I lost my health coverage through MaineCare. I currently do not fall under the Maine state guidelines to receive free or reduced-cost health care. My college program requires that all students maintain a form of health insurance at all times in order to stay in the program. I have a part-time job at the Kennebec Valley Humane Society, working to place local homeless animals into homes. However, I do not earn enough to support myself and pay for a regular health care plan.

I have exhausted all options available to me in search for health care coverage and have come up with nothing. So, I sincerely cannot urge my representatives enough to vote in favor of bill L.D. 633 so that I am able to carry on with my education through the University of Maine at Augusta. The passing of this bill would help not only me but nearly 70,000 Maine citizens that are falling in between this enormous gap in health care coverage.

Tori MacDougall

Pittston