With less than a month left until election day, U.S. Senate candidate Sara Gideon kicked off a new tour throughout the state called 'Health Care is on the Ballot.'
In this tour, Gideon will travel across the state discussing the importance of protecting and expanding access to affordable health care. Gideon expressed it's an important topic driving many to the polls next month.
Friday in Hermon at Pleasant Hill Campground, people were able to get answers to questions they had.
NEWS CENTER Maine asked how will she pay for these health care programs she wants to include if elected?
"What we are suggesting is a public option that people would purchase, so it is up to an individual to make the decision this medicare program, and to have that become their health insurance. That being said..we recognize that cost is still a barrier, so making sure we are putting cost caps in place, making sure that tax credits become more generous so that people can afford this as important," responded Gideon.
But healthcare was the focus of this gathering with U.S. Senate candidate Sara Gideon.
Marylouis Davitt thinks these events give Mainers a good chance to get answers. She was there to ask Gideon: "What she will do if she is elected to the senate to stop the president from torturing social security. Which I do depend on."
Sara Gideon says she is running for senate because people need to elect a senator who will fight, protect, and expand health care, things she promises to do if elected.
"It starts with creating a public option for Medicare so that anybody who wants to purchase into medicare can do so, but it also includes making changes to medicare to improve it," says Gideon.
Gideon says it's important to change the course and direction of where the country is headed to..."To make sure that we save healthcare and then make it stronger, to make sure that social security is here for our seniors, to make sure that we are doing things to expand access to education."
Just some of the things Gideon believes are at stake this election cycle.
After this town hall at Pleasant Hill campground in Hermon, Gideon went to Life-flight of Maine in Bangor to learn more about the medical services it provides to people in critical condition after an emergency.
Executive Director of LifeFlight of Maine, Thomas Judge and Medical Director Norm Dinerman explained to Gideon some of the obstacles the medical transport organization faces in such a rural state.
“What they do is really act as the connector between different healthcare organizations for people in emergency situations,” said Gideon. "In a state like Maine, where rural healthcare and access to care is so important this is an essential part.”
Gideon also said it’s important to support systems like Lifeflight of Maine so people can continue to live and work in the rural parts of the state.