Sen. Susan Collins came strongly out against Graham-Cassidy and became the third Republican no for the legislation, which effectively kills the bill.
In a statement, Sen. Collins said, “Health care is a deeply personal, complex issue that affects every single one of us and one-sixth of the American economy. Sweeping reforms to our health care system and to Medicaid can’t be done well in a compressed time frame, especially when the actual bill is a moving target. Today, we find out that there is now a fourth version of the Graham-Cassidy proposal, which is as deeply flawed as the previous iterations. The fact that a new version of this bill was released the very week we are supposed to vote compounds the problem.”
Collins also debunked the myth that states like her’s will get more money under Graham-Cassidy, “There has been some discussion that the new version of the bill includes additional money for my home state of Maine. The fact is, Maine still loses money under whichever version of the Graham-Cassidy bill we consider because the bills use what could be described as a “give with one hand, take with the other” distribution model. Huge Medicaid cuts down the road more than offset any short-term influx of money. But even more important, if Senators can adjust a funding formula over a weekend to help a single state, they could just as easily adjust that formula in the future to hurt that state. This is simply not the way that we should be approaching an important and complex issue that must be handled thoughtfully and fairly for all Americans.”
She ended her statement by expressing her commitment to a bipartisan bill that fixes the problems in Obamacare.
The task ahead of those who are trying to save Obamacare is to make sure that repeal stays dead for the next five days. All of the no votes must remain no. There can be no letup. All it would take is one reversal, and the legislation could pass.
There is more work to be done. For now, Obamacare repeal looks dead, but it is up to the American people to make sure that it stays that way.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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