BANGOR — Second Congressional District Democrat Matt Dunlap unveiled a healthcare plan on Monday that calls for Medicare for All and more federal funding for rural hospitals.

Dunlap, who faces three others in the June 9 primary, said it’s his top issue and what he hears from many Mainers every day.

“They say look I have to focus on what is right in front of me and that’s the fact that I have health issues, I have a fixed income, and my health insurance has gone up double, triple, quadruple,” he said.

Dunlap, who is state auditor, is running against state Sen. Joe Baldacci, former congressional aide Jordan Wood and social worker Paige Loud. 

Dunlap’s healthcare plan also includes measures to protect abortion access and require “safe nurse-to-patient staffing ratios.”

National Nurses United has endorsed Dunlap and Erin Oberson, co-president of the Maine State Nurses Association, said they trust Dunlap to support their needs.

“He is fighting for safe staffing ratios because he understands what every nurse already knows,” she said. “When there aren’t enough nurses at the bedside, we all pay the price.”

Dunlap acknowledged that even if Democrats win the House and Senate, they will still need to work with Republican President Donald Trump to move initiatives forward. That includes restoring Affordable Care Act subsidies that were cut earlier this year and laying the groundwork for universal healthcare, he said. 

“Every other industrialized country in the world has some form of universal healthcare except for the United States,” he said. “All these shots are being called by paid corporate lobbyists who swarm the halls of Congress and make sure nothing changes.”