Augusta, Maine – A super PAC backing Susan Collins credits her with delivering funding to rural hospitals – the only problem is that, according to new reporting from Maine Beacon, that funding hasn’t actually been delivered.

While the ads claim Collins delivered for rural hospitals, the funding they cite had not even been distributed when the ads aired. At the same time, Collins helped advance the same Republican law that included deep Medicaid cuts threatening coverage for roughly 33,000 Mainers.

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Maine Beacon: Millions spent on Collins ads that don’t match Maine health care reality

By Channa Steinmetz

April 28, 2026

• A Republican-aligned political group has spent millions of dollars on ads promoting U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, but observers are saying a closer look at these ads shows they rely on misleading — and in some cases impossible — claims about her record on health care.

• The ads are funded by One Nation, a political organization closely aligned with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and claim that Collins has already delivered tangible improvements to rural hospitals through federal funding. But comments from state officials reveal that’s not possible.

• The funding referenced in the ad comes from the Rural Health Transformation Program, a federal initiative designed to partially offset losses from major Medicaid cuts included in Pres. Donald Trump’s budget bill. While Maine was awarded a fraction of the needed funding from the program, no funds had actually been distributed at the time Collins’ ad aired in mid-March 2026.

• In fact, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services did not receive full approval for the program’s budget until the end of March, weeks after the ad began running. State officials said during a Rural Health Fund Seminar on March 31 that they are still working to finalize contracts and hire staff, with funds not expected to be distributed until later in 2026.

• That timeline makes it impossible for any hospital in Maine to have already used the funding for new equipment or facility upgrades, as the ad claims.

• Beyond that, the ads omit a broader reality: the same federal law that created the rural health funding also includes deep cuts to Medicaid that are expected to strain Maine’s health care system. The same law Collins voted to advance this past summer.

• Those cuts have already had tangible impacts. The largest network of reproductive health clinics serving rural Mainers has shut down its primary care operations due to reduced funding, and two rural hospitals in the state have been identified as at immediate risk of closure or service reductions.

• Health policy analysts estimate that about 33,000 Mainers could lose health coverage under the law, including 28,000 people currently enrolled in Medicaid.

• The ad campaign also promotes Collins as a supporter of cancer research, but her record includes backing policies that have led to significant cuts in federal health and science funding.

• Collins backed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, despite his history of vaccine skepticism. Under his leadership, the agency canceled $500 million in funding for research into mRNA vaccines and treatments for diseases including cancer.