When she helped to pass the 2017 GOP tax giveaway, Senator Susan Collins opened the Affordable Care Act up to a legal challenge that could take health care away from more than 100,000 Mainers. In just a matter of days, the Supreme Court will hear the case that will determine the fate of protections for people with preexisting conditions, and Collins has admitted that she does not have a comprehensive plan to replace the ACA. 

 

Senator Collins has tried to claim that she’ll stand up for Mainers’ health care, and earlier this year touted a partisan bill that she claims would increase transparency –– but in reality, the bill wouldn’t come close to repairing the damage she’s made possible. The bill simply repeats an executive order from 2019, and would only take effect if the ACA is completely repealed. She touted the bill in an op-ed for Seacoast Online — but just days later, the editorial board wrote their own column, clarifying that the law wouldn’t “be enough on its own to keep rising costs in check across the board.”

 

Make no mistake: Senator Collins helped establish a massive new threat to the ACA through her vote on the tax bill, and she has no replacement plan in case the law is overturned. Despite these immense dangers, Senator Collins still maintains that she does not regret her vote for the bill “at all.” After a recent study showed that Maine would be hit harder than any state in the country by an ACA repeal, it’s clear that Mainers can’t afford to send Senator Collins back to Washington. 


“Senator Collins created a major threat to the ACA—and with the Supreme Court just days away from hearing a case that could rip health care away from 100,000 Mainers, she still says she has no regrets,” said Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Lisa Roberts. “Senator Collins’ so-called health care fixes are nothing more than band-aids over bullet holes. Her partisan proposals would do nothing to help defend and expand health care for Mainers. It’s clear that Senator Collins is willing to sell out the health of her constituents for the interests of major campaign contributors, and it’s time Maine sent a new leader to Washington.”  

 

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