What You Can Do

We encourage you to speak out on the important issues facing healthcare in Maine. We have put together the information below to help you. If possible, we would appreciate it if you could e-mail us a copy of your letter or e-mail at meahp@maine.rr.com. Thank you!

Whether you are a business, insurer, government official or an individual who wants to speak out, we appreciate your concern and suggest writing a letter to your Legislator and letter to your local weekly or daily newspaper to make your voice known.

Writing to Your Legislator: Follow this link to the "Find Your Legislator" section to contact your Legislator: Click Here

This is a great service provided by the State and we encourage you to use it online. Letters are a great way to express your concerns and opinions. Because you elect them, legislators are greatly impacted by the views of their constituents.

You can also write to representatives at 2 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0002. The address for senators is 3 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0003.

Writing to the Governor: To write to the Governor, follow this link to the "Email Gov. Baldacci" link.

Letters to the Editor: Letters sent to newspapers are an effective tool as well. Attached is a list of editors at weekly and daily newspapers throughout the state where you can submit your letters to the editor, preferably by e-mail. If you need a street address, let us know.

Format: For letters to the editor, we recommend no more than 250 words since most papers have a word limit. Also include a daytime phone number, as sometimes a publication will verify the authorship. For letters to your legislator, you can send the same letter as a cc or write one more specifically aimed at the legislative battle coming up over LD 1935 and LD 1845.

Content: Letters to the editor and to your legislator are a great way to express your concerns and opinions, on whatever points you feel are important. We have attached a list of our concerns, and below we provide links to additional resources and information, but only as a reference, since we feel your own points and insights will enable you to write a more effective letter.

To get ideas for a letter, respond directly to an article or letter that you read. Also, keep it simple. You donŐt need to be a policy expert to get published.

Here are some additional links to online resources that may prove useful:

Maine State Chamber of Commerce has a wealth of info on the issue, including news releases, legislative updates and other materials. Go here.

The Maine State Chamber of Commerce also has a great section about how to write to Legislators. Go to their Grassroots Action Network section from their home page www.mainechamber.org.

The Dirigo Health web site provides background on the program from the perspective of those who designed it. Go here.

The Maine Insurance Agents Association position paper "Find Out the Truth About the Dirigo Health Plan" is posted on their website here.

The Council for Affordable Health Insurance has a hard-hitting article on Dirigo here.

Letters to the Editor Contacts

Below is a list of e-mail addresses for sending Letters to the Editor at both daily and weekly newspapers in Maine. Feel free to write to any paper that covers your town. At the end of each letter you write, list your name, town, and a daytime phone number, which needs to be included only so they can call to verify.

Some e-mail addresses are to a specific editor, others are to a general e-mail address. We have also listed some specific directives from some papers about length.

If you have any additional questions about contacting the media, feel free to e-mail Jason Wolfe at Jason@wolfenews.com.

Dailies:

Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram
letterstotheeditor@pressherald.com
or fax 207-828-8154
250 word limit, will be contacted before it runs

Bangor Daily News letters@bangordailynews.net
300 word limit, include telephone #

Journal Tribune, Biddeford
Drew McMullin, Managing Editor
dmcmullin@journaltribune.com
300 word limit

Kennebec Journal/Waterville Morning Sentinel
letters@centralmaine.com
250 word limit, include town and telephone #

Lewiston Sun Journal
letters@sunjournal.com
250 word limit, full name and address (residential and mailing), telephone #

Times Record, Brunswick
letters@timesrecord.com
350 word limit, include name, address and telephone #

Weeklies:

Advertiser-Democrat
Norway
newsteam@advertiserdemocrat.com

Aroostook Republican
Caribou
editor@nepublish.com

Bear Facts of Maine
Norway, ME
editor@bearfactsme.com

Bethel Oxford County Citizen
Bethel
news@bethelcitizen.com

Biddeford-Saco-OOB Courier
Biddeford editor@biddefordsacooobcourier.com

Boothbay Register
Kevin Burnham, Editor
Boothbay Harbor editorkburnham@boothbayregister.com
Short as possible, reserve right to edit

Bridgton News
bnews@adelphia.net

Calais Advertiser
calaisadvertiser@verizon.net
Keep short

Camden Herald
cherald@courierpub.com
E-mail, prefer short,300 word max

Cape Courier
Cape Elizabeth
editor@capecourier.com
No anonymous letters, 250 word limit

Capital Weekly Augusta
cwmail@courierpub.com
Shorter is better, 500 word limit

Castine Patriot
cp@penobscotbaypress.com

Coastal Journal
Bath
editor@coastaljournal.com

Community Advertiser
Keith Peters, Editor
keith@comadvertiser.com

Community Leader
Falmouth
editor@communityleader.net

Compass Stonington
compass@penobscotbaypress.com

Courier Gazette Rockland
Mike McGuire, Editor-In-Chief
mmcguire@courierpub.com

Downeast Coastal Press Cutler
downeastcoastal@earthlink.net

DownEast Times Calais
Dtimes1@verizon.net

Eastern Gazette
Dexter
gazette@kynd.com

Ellsworth American
Stephen Fay, Managing Editor
sfay@ellsworthamerican.com

Ellsworth Weekly
Greg Fish, News Editor
gfish@courierpub.com
Keep local

The Enterprise Bucksport
theenterpr@aol.com

Forecaster Falmouth
Marian McCue, Editor
mmccue@theforecaster.net
350 word limit

Franklin Journal
Farmington
fjeditor@verizon.net
250 word limit

Free Press
Rockland
editor@freepressonline.com

Gorham Times
gtimes@maine.rr.com

Gorham-Westbrook Gazette
news@mainelynewspapers.com

Gray News
editor@graynews.maine.com
250 word limit

Harpswell Anchor
news@harpswellanchor.com
250 word limit

Houlton Pioneer Times
editor@nepublish.com

Island Ad-Vantages
Stonington
ia@penobscotbaypress.com

Katahdin Times Millinocket
Shelley Farrington
shelley@katahdinpress.com

Kennebunk Post
news@kennebunkpost.com

Lake Region Suburban
Windham
lrweekly@adelphia.net
700 word limit

Lincoln County News
Damariscotta
lcn.@lincoln.midcoast.com

Lincoln County Weekly
Damariscotta
lcwmail@courierpub.com

Lincoln News
lincnews@midmaine.com

Livermore Falls Advertiser
lfanews@verizon.net
200 word limit

Lubec Light
Robin Gautier, Editor
rgautier@rmcl.org
Reserve the right to edit

Machias Valley News
machiasnews@mgemaine.com

Maine Standard Times Lewiston
Peter Steele, Editor
Peter@twincitytimes.com

Making It At Home
Wells
Publisher@makingitathome.com

Monument Newspaper
Gray
editor@monumentnews.com
300 word limit, need to be exclusive

Moosehead Messenger
Greenville
editor@gwi.net

Mount Desert Islander
Bar Harbor
Earl Brechlin, Editor
ebrechlin@mdislander.com

Munjoy Hill Observer
Portland
Jim Hanna, Editor
jimhanna@maine.rr.com

New Gloucester News
ngnews@aol.com

The Notes Yarmouth
thenotes@maine.rr.com

Original Irregular
Kingfield
irregulr@somtel.com
250 word limit, subject to editing

Penobscot Bay Press
Stonington, ME
cis@penobscotbaypress.com

Piscataquis Observer
Dover-Foxcroft
editor@nepublish.com

Portland Phoenix
Jeff Inglis, Editor
jinglis@phx.com

Quoddy Tides Eastport
qtides@midmaine.com
Prefer 400, but 700 word max.

Rangeley Highlander
info@therangeleyhighlander.com

Republican Journal
Belfast
trjmail@courierpub.com
250 word limit

Rolling Thunder Express Newport
info@rollingthunderexpress.com

Rumford Falls Times
rftimes@gwi.net

Saint John Valley Times
Madawaska
news2@sjvalley-times.com

Sanford News
news@sanfordnews.com

Scarborough Current
currnews@maine.rr.com

Scarborough Leader
news@scarboroughleader.com

South Portland Sentry
news@southportlandsentry.com

Star-Herald Presque Isle
starherald@nepublish.com

Sun Chronicle
Saco
sunchronicle@maine.rr.com
300-500 word and email preferred

The American Journal
Westbrook
ajmoran@maine.rr.com
Reserve right to edit

The Community Press Millinockett
editor@thecommunitypress.net

The Reporter Waterboro
thereporter@sacoriver.net

Topsham Cryer
Topsham.cryer@verizon.net

Town Line Sooth
China
townline@pivot.net

Turner Publications
(group of weeklies in central and western Maine)
ccourier@megalink.net

Village Soup Citizen Camden
Lorie Costigan, Editor
lcostigan@villagesoup.com

Waldo Independent Belfast
waldoindependent@adelphia.net

Weekly Packet Blue Hill
wp@penobscotbaypress.com

West End News Portland
thewestendnews@cs.com

Windham Independent
editor@windhamindependent.com

Wiscasset Newspaper
wiscassetnewspaper@verizon.net

York County Coast Star Kennebunk
Dan King, Editor
dking@seacoastonline.com
350 word limit

York Independent
editor@yorkindependent.net

York Weekly
yorkweekly@seacoastonline.com
350 word preferred, but flexible

Your Weekly Shopping Cornish
ywsg@psouth.net

Thanks again for your efforts! If questions, feel free to contact Katherine Pelletreau, executive director of the Maine Association of Health Plans at 829-5696 or meahp@maine.rr.com. If possible, please also feel free to e-mail a copy of what you sent to your local paper or legislator.