Augusta, ME – This week, Maine health care professionals gathered to slam Susan Collins for failing to protect Mainers’ health care. Dr. Nirav Shah and Maine State Nurses Association Co-President Erin Oberson called out Collins for advancing Trump’s Medicaid cuts and voting to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has eviscerated America’s public health system.
Watch TV coverage here:
WGME:
Well, the state’s former CDC director is calling out Senator Collins for what they say is a lack of action in ensuring health care access. Dr. Nirav Shah, along with a nurse from Eastern Maine Medical Center, said Collins’ key vote to advance the Big Beautiful Bill enabled the slashing of public health programs and funding in order to fund ICE and tax breaks for the rich. Shah, who ran for governor and U.S. Senate this year, added that her vote to confirm Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. resulted in outbreaks and deaths from diseases previously unheard of across the country due to his undermining of vaccines.
DR. NIRAV SHAH: “[If] any of these situations posed the threat of the next pandemic — simply put, we are not ready for that…”
WVII:
Maine medical professionals held a press conference in Bangor calling out what they say is Senator Susan Collins’ lack of action toward ensuring access to health care. Former Maine CDC director and Senate candidate Dr. Nirav Shah was joined by Eastern Maine Medical Center nurse Erin Oberson. They claimed Senator Collins holds much of the blame for the state of health care in Maine and in the nation. They said Collins’ key vote to advance the Big Beautiful Bill enabled the slashing of public health programs and funding in order to fund ICE and tax breaks for the rich. Shah added that her vote to confirm Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. resulted in outbreaks and deaths from diseases previously unheard of across the country due to Kennedy’s undermining of vaccines.
DR. NIRAV SHAH: “If any of these situations posed the threat of the next pandemic, simply put, we are not ready for that threat, and that is because Senator Collins installed people like RFK into power.”
WAGM:
Well, during Tuesday’s U.S. Senate debate between Senator Collins and Troy Jackson, Susan Collins mentioned health care as the issue she is working hardest on to make life affordable for Mainers. At a press conference in Bangor yesterday, Maine medical professionals criticized Collins, saying her procedural vote to advance the One Big Beautiful Bill to the Senate floor led to health care cuts across Maine. […]
Former Maine CDC director Dr. Nirav Shah spoke at the conference. He argues funding from the Rural Health Transformation Program, championed by Collins, did not make up for the Medicaid cuts, saying it was a net loss of funding to Maine of $2 billion. Medical professionals also criticized Collins for voting to confirm Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Erika Schwartz as head of the Centers for Disease Control.
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