Democratic Senate candidate Sara Gideon outlined her health care priorities on Tuesday, calling for a “public option” under Medicare, prescription drug price caps for seniors, a federal drug importation program, and expanded family and medical leave.

Gideon said she also wants to make permanent telemedicine options launched in response to the COVID-19 crisis, and she called for additional investment in the health care infrastructure to address the access disparities highlighted by the pandemic in rural and minority communities.

Gideon, a Freeport resident who serves as Maine’s Speaker of the House, is running a high-profile and well-funded campaign to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins this fall. Two independent candidates, Lisa Savage of Solon and Max Linn of Bar Harbor, have also qualified for the November ballot in a race that could help decide which party controls the Senate.

The list of health care priorities that Gideon outlined on Tuesday include creating a voluntary, public buy-in option under Medicare while expanding eligibility for the Affordable Care Act and increasing tax credits for health care expenses. Those proposals are consistent with the positions outlined by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and other Democrats but do not go as far as those espoused by candidates advocating for “Medicare for all.”

Gideon also pledged to fight to protect federal funding for Planned Parenthood and accused Collins of potentially undermining access to abortion through her pivotal vote to support Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The Gideon campaign also pointed to Collins’ vote in support of a Republican tax cut bill as paving the way for subsequent efforts to dismantle a key part of the Affordable Care Act.

“Here in Maine, we’ve expanded Medicaid, put protections in place for seniors and people with pre-existing conditions, cracked down on big drug companies and protected reproductive rights,” Gideon said in a statement. “It’s time Mainers had that kind of leadership in Washington, and that’s exactly why I’m running.”

Health care was expected to be a top Democratic issue again this election cycle even before the coronavirus hit the United States, sickening 5.7 million people and causing more than 177,000 deaths in the United States alone.

Collins has pointed to her co-authorship of the Paycheck Protection Program that has provided more than $2 billion in forgivable loans to 28,000 businesses in Maine during the COVID-19 crisis. She has also highlighted her work during her Senate career to lower the costs of prescription drugs and expand access to health care in rural areas.

This story will be updated.

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