Augusta, MAINE – In case you missed it, according to a report from Inside Health Policy, Senator Susan Collins appears to once again be shifting the timeline for the passage of two health-insurance related bills that she sought in exchange for her vote on the GOP tax bill.
According to the report:
“Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said that even though congressional leadership did not meet her year-end deadline to pass Obamacare stabilization legislation, she now hopes Congress will pass the legislation before premiums rise in 2019 as a result of the tax law's individual mandate repeal. Collins also said she is now willing to work with other, more conservative, Republicans to shape and pass the legislation as soon as possible.
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“Collins spent much of the end of 2017 insisting that the GOP would honor its pledge to pass the bills before passing tax reform or by the end of the year, but she now suggests the actual deadline date is less important than ensuring the bills pass in time to mitigate premium increases.”
In November, Collins originally said that her bills would be passed before the tax bill passed. However, when that did not happen, she shifted the timeline to say that they would pass before the end of the year, and then voted in support of the tax bill. Following that vote, she announced that the bills would not be considered by the end of the year as she previously said, and, now, with this Inside Health Policy report, it appears that she is continuing to try to widen the timetable for their passage.
In the wake of these timetable shifts and broken promises by Collins, the Maine Democratic Party corrected the record on the massive spin that she put out to justify her mistakes, which can be read HERE.
The complete Inside Health Policy report, which is behind a paywall, can be accessed HERE.
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