In a new legal brief, Republicans behind the lawsuit to strike down the Affordable Care Act pointed to the 2017 GOP tax bill that Senator Susan Collins supported as the linchpin of their case to eliminate the health care law. This is consistent with the argument made by the Trump administration earlier this year that Senators like Collins who voted for the tax bill “knowingly voted to destroy” the ACA.
If the lawsuit is successful, Maine would be “hit harder than almost any other state,” with a 164% increase in the number of uninsured Mainers. But as her Washington Republican allies have used the tax law she supported to try to eliminate the ACA, including coverage protections for people with preexisting conditions, Senator Collins has maintained that she doesn’t regret her vote “at all.”
“Senator Collins knew that her vote for the tax bill would put Mainers’ health care at risk from the very beginning,” said Maine Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Marra. “In the middle of this pandemic, it’s never been more clear why every Mainer needs access to health care they can afford--but Collins’ Republican allies in Washington are charging full speed ahead to eliminate the care so many of us depend on.”
###