Augusta, Maine – Today, on the anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid being signed into law, Maine Democratic Party spokesperson Tommy Garcia released the following statement on Susan Collins’ long history of voting to weaken Medicare and Medicaid:

“Susan Collins has a decades-long record of working to weaken and dismantle Medicare and Medicaid – programs that serve as lifelines for hundreds of thousands of Mainers. In 2026, Mainers will reject Collins’ history of supporting drastic, dangerous cuts to these critical programs.”

Reminder: Maine has the highest percentage of residents over the age of 65 in the country – nearly 400,000 Mainers depend on Medicare. Another 400,000 Mainers rely on the Medicaid program, MaineCare. And yet, Susan Collins has voted numerous times to gut Medicare, greenlight cuts to MaineCare, restrict Mainers’ access to health care, and oppose lowering health care costs for prescription drugs.

Here is a reminder of Collins’ record:

• Collins was a “key” “pivotal vote” when she green lit the advancement of the 2025 dangerous Republican budget bill that makes deep cuts to Medicaid, will rip away health care from more than 61,000 Mainers, force thousands of Maine fishermen to lose their MaineCare, and force Maine hospitals to shut down.

• Collins has voted at least eight times during her career to gut Medicare and Medicaid.

  • In 2017, Susan Collins voted twice in support of the GOP budget resolution that called for cutting Medicare by $473 billion and Medicaid by $1 trillion and once against eliminating the proposed $473 billion in Medicare cuts.

  • In 2015, Susan Collins voted twice in support of the GOP budget resolution that called for $431 billion in cuts to Medicare and $500 billion in cuts to Medicaid and once against eliminating the proposed cuts to Medicare.

  • In 2011, Susan Collins voted against killing the “Cut, Cap, and Balance” plan, which would have led to “deep cuts” to Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.

  • In 1997, Susan Collins voted for a spending plan that would have cut Medicaid and cut Medicare growth by $115 billion by raising the retirement age, among other provisions.

• Collins “voted over a dozen times to repeal or undermine the Affordable Care Act, which has saved older Mainers more than $87 million by closing Medicare’s coverage gap,” expanded coverage for tens of thousands, and overall reduced costs while increasing access to care.  

• Collins voted against the Inflation Reduction Act, which lowered the cost of prescription drugs – including capping the price on insulin at $35 per month for people on Medicare.

• Collins voted out of step with fellow current and former Maine Senators – including Senators King and Snowe – against several efforts to address the cost of prescription drugs, all while accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from the pharmaceutical industry.