BANGOR -- The Maine People's Alliance marked the anniversary of Medicaid and Medicare by speaking out against federal healthcare cuts and former governor Paul LePage.
Members in Bangor gathered at cascade park, near Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center, holding signs that call for protecting medicare and Maine's healthcare system.
According to the MPA, about 1/5 of Maine's second congressional district are on Mainecare.
The organization is pushing to keep Paul LePage, who is running for that district, out of Congress based on his previous record of rejecting Medicaid expansions.
"We're seeing people going without health care, we're seeing hospitals all over the state of Maine closing because they were reliant on you know actually getting paid from Mainecare, money that Mainecare no longer has," said Thomas 'Jasper' Poling, member of Maine People's Alliance.
Demonstrations were also held in Lewiston on Thursday.
Members stressed that reduced funding threatens access to essential medical services across local communities.