Medicaid Expansion Victory in Maine

The New Media Firm was proud to work with Mainers for Health Care on the Yes on Question 2 campaign to expand Medicaid in Maine in 2017.  We used a combination of highly targeted digital and television ads to help power Question 2 to victory on Election Day.

Part of our job was illustrate to voters that potential Medicaid recipients represented a broad range of hard-working Mainers with families and responsibilities and included groups you might not expect – like people not yet old enough to qualify for Medicare. We tested many different pieces of creative advertising to determine the most effective messages for our audience.  

Our first television spot, “Kathleen”, aired statewide and showed a compelling and emotional portrait of a hard-working senior who was not yet old enough to qualify for Medicare and couldn’t afford health insurance on her own. With its emotion and focus on a real person at the heart of Medicaid expansion, it helped establish the stakes of the campaign early on, and inoculated against future attacks.

Other spots, like this :06 digital ad below also featured real people and their stories. 

Maine voters overwhelmingly approved the measure, with 59% voting in favor. As a result, more than $500 million a year will help tens of thousands get health care, keep rural hospitals open, and create thousands of new jobs.  Former Governor LePage blocked the expansion in 2018 but Maine’s newly elected Governor, Janet Mills, rolled out Medicaid expansion on her first day in office and thousands have already enrolled.