Why Run
In late October, I told my wife that I was running for US Congress. Two weeks later, I made a formal announcement to a roomful of state politicians at the Augusta Maine Elks Club. After 20 years as a practicing pediatrician, I'm making a professional change of some magnitude and it deserves an explanation.
As a doctor caring for Maine children and families, I have been frustrated with a system that is increasingly expensive and less patient centered. To get fair reimbursement from insurance companies, physicians are being educated in “efficient coding” rather than improving care. Public confidence in our profession is eroding with evidence of medical mistakes, burdensome insurance regulations and increasing barriers to care.
In 1998, I worked with the state to create a health assessment system for foster children. This award winning program has served over 1300 children in 6 counties in Maine. I have helped to bring millions of federal dollars in grant money to improve mental health services and to develop and implement an Electronic Medical Record. I've seen the power of federal funds used by local groups to make efficient, positive changes.
As a Gulf War Veteran, I am appalled by the ever lengthening tours of duty asked of our troops, knowing the devastating effects of prolonged deployment on their spouses and children. Deployments must be shortened to decrease the risk of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the service member and to improve retention and readiness. The war in Iraq is a tragic mistake, and I want our combatant's home as soon as possible, but I will never vote to leave our troops with inadequate resources. Our returning veterans are facing challenges as they try to re-enter the workplace, reconnect with families, and negotiate a complicated system of healthcare. We need to improve VA systems to better serve and support all our veterans. We need our VA's to be the center of excellence for PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury.
I'm a father of two young men now in college. We are a two parent working family, and we still struggle to cover the costs. How do less fortunate families cope with this financial burden? I've learned that scholarship money is taxed and treated as income if the money is a prize for an essay, or if the scholarship money is used to pay room and board costs. I was shocked to learn that gambling losses are tax deductible, but interest on student loans is not. We should not treat student scholarships as taxable income.
As a homeowner in Maine, I have watched speculators and developers “flip” homes, causing property values to dramatically increase while Maine's median income has barely risen. In 12 years my homeowner taxes have more than doubled, far outpacing the increase in my home's value. We are facing a crisis in home affordability, forcing some Mainers to leave their family homes and move far from their jobs, promoting sprawl. Longer commuting distances lead to increased use of cars and energy consumption. We need a thoughtful approach to rural and urban development, to reduce sprawl, and strengthen communities. We need to renovate our old homes to make them more energy efficient and we need to promote a creative economy. We can attract high tech, bio tech and information based companies using quality of life and our honest and hardworking Maine ethic as a selling point.
By entering the race for Congress, I have created an opportunity for you to elect a very different candidate to work on national policy. I am not a lawyer, a lobbyist or a former local politician. The issues we face on a National level call for a Representative with skills and experiences beyond those of local politics. I am a Gulf War Veteran and a physician with a unique skill set to bring to Washington in a time of change. I wanted you to understand why I'm doing this and to ask for your support.
Please feel free to contact me at stevemeisterforcongress@gmail.com
Stephen J. Meister, MD