Rep. Rana has led efforts to fund and protect MaineCare, to protect care for people struggling with substance abuse, and to support older Mainers and rural residents who face many barriers to getting the care they need.

Yet, there is so much more work to do, and drastic federal cuts to Medicare are already devastating Maine’s fragile rural health system. Rep. Rana is committed to continuing to fight for healthcare for all — and to hold healthcare and pharmaceutical companies accountable for the violence and harm they bring to our communities.

In the news

• Rep Rana’s remarks on Healthcare for All: starting at 8:00
  
  Read the full remarks here:

Good morning. AssalamuAlaikum neighbors.

I am State Representative Ambureen Rana and I am honored to serve Bangor in the State House. I was raised in this community, right across the river where my family ran a small Maine business. I both saw and experienced firsthand the struggles too many of us working class people face trying to make ends meet while growing up. The struggles we are experiencing today make our daily life harder now more than ever. This hardship is proportional to the rise of conservatism and far right politics infiltrating our local, state and federal government. Politics that prioritize profits over people, productivity over reciprocity, and conquest over mutual respect and dignity. 

When I was young, my father had a massive stroke. It was debilitating, and fundamentally changed the trajectory of his future, and our lives. My mother went from a stay at home mom, to full time worker, and caretaker for my father, his two disabled siblings and her children (my brother and I). In the years that followed, my father’s recovery would have highs and lows. Occupational, Speech and Physical therapy made huge strides in his improvement and healing. When Lepage’s administration introduced massive healthcare cuts, these services became inaccessible for many Mainers like my family. Services that improve and save lives… became negotiable, reserved for those who in theory have the financial privilege to access them.  But in reality cuts like this affect all Mainers, whether they’re on Mainecare or private health insurance. Barriers to services have life altering consequences–consequences made invisible by decision-makers at the top. But they are all too tangible for those that have to live them. 

The ramification of conservative political leadership is the disintegration of our social care infrastructure. The apathy for human dignity and quality of life is apparent in the commodification of our insurance systems– But we must stop individualizing away our health. We must understand the wellbeing  of our people and communities is interdependent and – that we have a shared responsibility to construct a healthcare system that takes care of all of us. 

Because  Mainers are hurting now more than ever. 

Mainers are hurting at the gas pump, hurting by the cuts to health services and hospital closures. Hurting because accessing medical care becomes increasingly prohibitive. Prescription drug costs escalate arbitrarily according to the whims of profit reapers. Hurting because we have to make the undignified choices of what basic human needs to prioritize in our daily lives. It shouldn’t be like this. 

The average price of gas in Bangor is $4.41. This isn’t only an economic barrier; it’s a health care barrier for rural Maine. With care services and hospitals closing, Mainers have to travel farther than ever for their health care. This means it costs that much more, for those of us in rural communities to get treatment. And for what? To continue funding devastation and colonial terror in Iran?  Tax money that could be allocated to the social, emotional and physical wealth of our communities, is hemorrhaged instead on American conquest. 

Mainers who rely on the affordable care act for coverage are dropping plans due to untenable price hikes. We know it was wrong to cut ACA tax credits that made health care affordable for 22 million Americans. Our community members are forced to choose between food in the fridge, purchasing basic necessities, or paying their healthcare premiums. The ACA was a step in the right direction, but ultimately what we need is a universal healthcare system that meets all of our needs. Therefore, it is upon all of us to use the collective power of our ballots to fight for Universal Healthcare in every election – and bring it to fruition. We must vote to join the 72 countries globally that ensure this basic right for their people.  And we must resist re-electing those who treat our bodies like corporate merchandise. Resist those that triage insatiable financial greed over human life.

We deserve so much better than this.