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Susan Collins

ashoup
In News, Capitol Hill

Sen. Susan Collins Keeps Moving the Goalposts on ACA Stabilization Bills

FIRST, COLLINS SAID SHE WANTED ALEXANDER-MURRAY AND COLLINS-NELSON TO BE LAW BEFORE MOVING TO THE TAX BILL

November 19, 2017: “And I Would Like To See That Done Before We Go To The Tax Bill.” Collins: “ It’s a problem for me if it is not mitigated. But there is a way to mitigate the impact that it would have on insurance premiums. I do want to point out that that provision, all that provision says is that a person who chooses not to get insurance cannot be fined for that decision. That’s very different from what we were faced with this past summer and fall when insurance was being taken away from people who wanted to be insured. The fact is that those fines are paid by — overwhelmingly by people who make less than $50,000 a year, 80 percent of the people who pay the fines fall in that category. But I’m worried about the impact on premiums. And that’s why we’re going to need to pass legislation. And I would like to see that done before we go to the tax bill.” [ABC’s This Week, 11/19/17]

AND THEN, COLLINS SAID SHE WANTED THE TWO STABILIZATION BILLS TO BE LAW BEFORE THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE CAME BACK AND INDICATED SHE GOT PRESIDENT TRUMP TO SUPPORT THE TWO PIECES OF LEGISLATION

November 28, 2017: Collins: “I’m Pushing To Make Sure They Are Passed And Signed Into Law Prior To The Conference Report Coming Back.” “‘I’m pushing to make sure they are passed and signed into law prior to the conference report coming back,’ she said, ‘So I would know for certain that we’re going to be able to mitigate the impact of repealing the individual mandate.’ When reporters pointed out the possibility that there will be no conference committee, that the House just passes the bill as-is, Collins waved away that fear. ‘Everything I’m hearing is that there is going to be a conference committee,’ she said.” [TPM, 11/29/17]

November 28, 2017: Collins Insisted She Secured Support From President Trump For Alexander-Murray And Collins-Nelson. “Collins insisted Tuesday that she secured support from Trump for two bills she says would mitigate the damage of repealing the mandate—one to restore government subsidies to insurance companies that Trump defunded earlier this year and the other to set up a federal reinsurance program. ‘Collins-Nelson would provide seed money for states and authorize high-risk pools. That really helps insurers because it gives them much more certainty about what their claims are going to be like,’ she told TPM in a gaggle with reporters Tuesday afternoon. ‘Similarly, Alexander-Murray would reinstate the cost-sharing reductions and that helps low-income people with their co-pays, and it gives certainty to insurers so they don’t flee the market. So I think the combination of those two would be very powerful.’” [TPM, 11/29/17]

November 28, 2017: Collins: “ A Lot Of My Concerns Are Being Addressed.” “‘A lot of my concerns are being addressed,’ Collins told reporters after a lunch meeting with Trump in Washington.” [Press Herald, 11/28/17]

November 28, 2017: Collins: “While My Preference Is Still That The Individual Mandate Repeal Not Be Included In The Tax Bill, If It Is Included, It Essential That We Mitigate The Impact Of Premiums With The Alexander-Murray Bill And With Bipartisan Legislation I Introduced With Senator Bill Nelson…” “While making her most positive comments yet on the tax reform bill Tuesday, Collins stopped short of announcing her outright support, and she remains in the ‘undecided’ category. ‘I have had a number of good discussions with the White House and with my colleagues, and we are continuing to have productive negotiations. Many of these discussions have focused on my proposals to help middle-income families, including allowing a deduction for property taxes and helping to lower insurance premiums on the individual market to offset any increases that might result from repealing the individual mandate,’ Collins said in a written statement. ‘While my preference is still that the individual mandate repeal not be included in the tax bill,’ she said, ‘if it is included, it is essential that we mitigate the impact on premiums with the Alexander-Murray bill and with bipartisan legislation I introduced with Senator Bill Nelson, D-Florida, that would protect people with pre-existing conditions while lowering premiums through the use of high-risk pools.’” [Press Herald, 11/28/17]

AND THEN, COLLINS VOTED FOR THE SENATE TAX BILL

December 2, 2017: The Senate Passed Its Tax Bill 51-49. Collins Voted In Favor. [Senate Vote 303, 12/2/17]

AND THEN, SHE SAID SHE HAD A “COMMITMENT” TO PASS THE TWO BILLS

December 3, 2017: Collins: “I Got A Commitment That We’re Going To Pass Two Bills, Including The Alexander Murray Bill…And One That I’ve Authored That WIll Help Offset The Individual Mandate Repeal By Lowering Premiums.” “I believe that the amendments that I added on medical expense deductions, on property tax deductions, on helping retirement security for public employees improved the bill. I got a commitment that we’re going to pass two bills, including the Alexander Murray bill…And one that I’ve authored that will help offset the individual mandate repeal by lowering premiums. And I also got an ironclad commitment that we’re not going to see cuts in the Medicaid/Medicare program as a result of this bill.” [Sen. Collins on Meet the Press, 12/3/17]

COLLINS VOTED FOR THE FINAL TAX BILL THAT BECAME LAW

December 20,2017: The Senate Passed The Conference Report Tax Bill 51-48. Collins Voted In Favor. [Senate Vote 323, 12/20/17]

AND THEN, COLLINS SAID SHE ASKED THAT THE STABILIZATION BILLS NOT BE INCLUDED IN THE CONTINUING RESOLUTION BILL AND INSTEAD WOULD OFFER IT DURING THE OMNIBUS BILL IN 2018, ALSO SAYING SPEAKER RYAN REITERATED HIS SUPPORT FOR PASSING HIGH RISK POOLS AND REINSURANCE BILLS

December 20, 2017: Collins And Alexander: “For This Reason, We Have Asked Senator McConnell Not To Offer This Week Our Legislation…Instead, We Will Offer It After The First Of The Year When The Senate Will Consider The Omnibus Spending Bill, [CHIP and CHCs], And Other Legislation.” “United States Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) today jointly released the following statement: ‘Rather than considering a broad year-end funding agreement as we expected, it has become clear that Congress will only be able to pass another short-term extension to prevent a government shutdown and to continue a few essential programs,’ said the Senators.  ‘For this reason, we have asked Senator McConnell not to offer this week our legislation which independent analysts Avalere and Oliver-Wyman say would reduce premiums by about 20 percent for the 9 million Americans who have no government subsidies to help them buy insurance in the individual market. Instead, we will offer it after the first of the year when the Senate will consider the omnibus spending bill, the Children’s Health Insurance Program reauthorization, funding for Community Health Centers, and other legislation that was to have been enacted this week.’” [Alexander and Collins Statement, 12/20/17]

December 20, 2017: Collins Said Speaker Paul Ryan Remained Committed To Passing Reinsurance And High-Risk Pools And “Pointed Out That By Waiting Until Early Next Year, We Will Be Able To Use A New CBO Baseline That Will Result In More Funding Being Available For Reinsurance…” “I appreciate the thoughtful and bipartisan effort that Chairman Alexander has led in the Senate health committee, and I look forward to working alongside him and Ranking Member Murray to enact these bipartisan bills and help make health insurance more affordable. This afternoon Speaker Paul Ryan called me and said that the House remains committed to passing legislation to provide for high-risk pools and other reinsurance mechanisms similar to the bipartisan legislation I have introduced. He pointed out that by waiting until early next year, we will be able to use a new CBO baseline that will result in more funding being available for reinsurance programs that have been proven effective in lowering premiums while protecting people with pre-existing conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis.” [Collins Statement, 12/20/17]

COLLINS SAID THE DEADLINE IS SLIPPING BUT STILL REMAINED CONFIDENT THEY WOULD BECOME LAW

December 20, 2017: Collins: “I Think The Policy Is More Important Than The Deadline, And The Deadline Is Slipping. And I’m The First To Say I’m Not Happy About That, That I’m Disappointed About That.” “Sen. Susan Collins announced Wednesday that crucial Affordable Care Act stabilization bills will be delayed until 2018 despite the promises she received from Republican leaders that they would be approved by the end of this year. Collins had emphasized passage of the two bills to secure her vote for the tax reform bill. ‘I think the policy is more important than the deadline, and the deadline is slipping. And I am the first to say that I am not happy about that, that I’m disappointed about that,’ Collins, a moderate Republican, told the Portland Press Herald in an interview Wednesday. ‘But I believe that at the end of the day, we’re going to end up where I want us to be – in fact, maybe even with a better bill.’” [Press Herald, 12/20/17]

AND NOW, COLLINS PUNTED ON THE TIMING, SAYING SHE WANTED TO BE DONE BY  2019

Collins Office Statement: “When The Mandate Is Repealed In 2019, We Must Have Other Health Care Reforms In Place To Prevent Further Increases In The Cost Of Health Insurance.” “In an interview with Inside Health Policy published Thursday, Collins said she hopes the policies she proposed will pass and be implemented before 2019, when the repeal of the individual mandate is expected to shrink the individual insurance market by several million people and drive up premiums by at least 10 percent. ‘When the mandate is repealed in 2019, we must have other health care reforms in place in order to prevent further increases in the cost of health insurance,’ Collins’ office said in a statement. ‘Senator Collins believes that averting these price spikes, particularly for low-income families, should be a goal that members of both parties can embrace.’” [TPM, 1/4/18]

ashoup
In News, Capitol Hill

Susan Collins Failed to Deliver On Her Health Care Promises

In response to a statement put out by Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Protect Our Care Campaign Director Brad Woodhouse issued the following statement:

“After casting a vote for health care repeal in the middle of the night, Susan Collins admitted that she failed to deliver on her promises to Mainers,” said Woodhouse. “First she asserted she wouldn’t vote for repeal without health care stabilization bills being signed into law. Then she claimed she wouldn’t vote for repeal without a concurrent vote on the stabilization bills. Then she said she wouldn’t vote for repeal without a promise of their becoming law in the future. Now, she has basically said she trusts Paul Ryan – who has shown no indication of support for these measures – to make this happen.

“At the end of the day, we’re left with 13 million Americans who will lose their health insurance, millions more who will see their premiums increase and assurances which are getting weaker and weaker with each subsequent press release. Millions of Americans – and hundreds of thousands of Mainers, who just one month ago overwhelmingly voted to expand Medicaid – will suffer because of it.”

ashoup
In Administration, Capitol Hill

Protect Our Care Statement On Potential Inclusion Of Alexander-Murray In Senate Spending Bill

In response to the news that the Senate plans to include the Alexander-Murray legislation in its must-pass spending bill this week, Protect Our Care Campaign Director Brad Woodhouse released the following statement:

“This is not nearly enough to offset the damage caused by this tax bill, and for senators to pretend otherwise is wrong and short-sighted” said Woodhouse. “13 million people will lose health insurance due to sneaky repeal and millions more will see their premiums rise double digits, and Alexander-Murray will do virtually nothing for these people even it is able to pass the House, far from a sure thing.

“Perhaps Senators Collins and Murkowski think this legislation will allow them to justify supporting a tax scam benefiting the wealthiest and big corporations at the expense of everyone else, but it provides little comfort to the American people losing sleep over their health care being put in jeopardy by the GOP tax scam.”

ashoup
In News, Capitol Hill

She Did What?! Susan Collins’ Position on the Tax Bill Hurts the Middle Class, the Environment and Health Care, Undermining Her Claims to Leadership on All of These Issues

For years, Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) has claimed to support the middle-class, favored the expansion of health care coverage and pledged to protect the environment. The GOP tax scam hammers the middle class, guts health care coverage and will irreparably hurt the environment. Who is harmed under this bill, and why does Sen. Collins continue to support it?

Mainers’ Health Because Premiums Will Rise and Medicare Cuts Are on the Horizon. Analysis from the Center for American Progress found that Mainers will see their premiums increase $2,350 under this tax bill. 50,000 Mainers will lose their insurance, and Medicare funding will see a $120 million cut in 2018. The immediate cuts are not the only cuts facing health care, either. In a letter to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), CBO Director Keith Hall made clear what Republicans have long said won’t be the case: Medicaid cuts are coming, to the tune of $18 billion. And Republicans, from Paul Ryan to Marco Rubio, are now admitting these cuts will be the next step. Sen. Collins previously highlighted Medicaid cuts as one of her primary concerns with GOP health care legislation and told CBS, “I don’t want seniors to have the anxiety of wondering whether the tax bill somehow is going to trigger a cut in Medicare.”

Middle Class Mainers’ Pocketbooks. The tax scam benefits the wealthiest earners at the expense of the middle class Per JCT analysis, “high-income households would get the largest tax cuts as a share of after-tax income, on average, while households with incomes below $30,000 would on average face a tax increase.” Sen. Collins previously criticized tax cuts for the highest earners.

Saddling Future Generations with More Debt. The tax bill would raise the budget deficit by nearly $1.5 trillion according to every independent analysis which has been conducted. The Joint Committee on Taxation found that the bill would cost $1.63 trillion, the Penn Wharton Budget Model found that it would cost $1.64 trillion and the Tax Foundation found that it would cost $1.78 trillion. Sen. Collins previously said she didn’t want the tax bill to “blow a hole in the deficit.”

Allowing More Drilling in Alaska. Buried in the bill is a provision allowing drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). ANWR drilling is a clear giveaway to the country’s largest oil companies at the expense of the planet, and is unpopular on both sides of the aisle. Twelve GOP Members of Congress recently urged its removal from the bill, and poll found wide opposition across eight key GOP Congressional districts. Sen. Collins previously was the only Republican to vote against ANWR drilling in a budget proposal.

Sen. Collins, it’s clear that the vast majority of this country will be harmed under this bill. It’s massively unpopular, with the opposition nearly doubling those who favor it. And Mainers are already furious about it. It’s not too late to change your vote – come out against this appalling piece of legislation, and instead return to the principles you’ve claimed to want to advance.

Sean England
In News, Capitol Hill

Sleigh Bells Ring, Are You Listening? Mainers, Health Care Advocates and Major Media Organizations Attempt to Reach Sen. Susan Collins

Ten days ago, Sen. Susan Collins voted in favor of the GOP tax scam to kick 13 million people off of their health insurance, raise premiums double digits for millions more and trigger a $25 billion cut to Medicare, all to pay for a tax cut for the wealthiest and big corporations. She argued it wasn’t a bad bill and claimed she had promises from GOP leaders to move alternative bills forward. In the days since, it’s been made abundantly clear neither of these things is true.

How is her vote playing out in Maine?

Maine Beacon: “Hundreds brave winter storm to tell Sen. Collins: ‘You are wrong’ on tax bill.” “Despite freezing temperatures and the season’s first significant snowfall, an estimated 250 people from across New England turned out Saturday to demand that Senator Susan Collins finally listen to the will of the voters and reject the Republican tax overhaul. The line of protesters marched across Memorial Bridge, which connects Portsmouth, New Hampshire to Kittery, Maine, behind a banner which read: ‘Sen. Susan Collins, You Are Wrong.’”

Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel: “Our View: Collins should drop support for tax bill.” “When she gets another chance, Collins should vote against the bill that’s now being negotiated in a House-Senate conference committee and stop this process before it’s too late. There is no shortage of reasons for her to withdraw her support.”

Alex Luck, Bangor Daily News: “Susan Collins support of the Senate tax bill is a betrayal of Maine’s veterans.” “As a veteran, it pains me to see just how badly the Republican tax bill that the Senate just passed will hurt my fellow veterans. What’s worse, I’m heartbroken to see Collins vote for this bill that punishes veterans and threatens millions of families’ health and well-being by dismantling a key part of the Affordable Care Act. I’d expect such cruelty from the far-right fringe. I’m shocked to see Collins go along with it.”

How about nationally?

Washington Post Editorial Board: “Susan Collins is getting it wrong.” “If the reinsurance plan were larger and perpetual, Ms. Collins would have a better argument. If Republicans had spent months examining the effectiveness of the mandate, waited for a new assessment from the Congressional Budget Office and drafted a stand-alone bill that included replacement policies, they would have more credibility in making such a large and risky change in the Obamacare system. But this is not what happened.”

New York Times: “Susan Collins and the Duping of the Centrists.” “A couple of weeks ago, Collins made a classic Collins deal. It tried to split the difference between Democratic and Republican positions. But it sure looks like a bum deal now… Her strategic error is the one that holds lessons for other would-be centrists. Namely, she defined the political center in relative terms rather than substantive terms. Republican leaders — not just Trump, but McConnell and Ryan too — have moved sharply to the right. They are rushing through a bill without the normal procedures. They are making verifiably false claims about it. And they have decided that taking health insurance away from Americans is a core Republican principle. Collins made the mistake of chasing after an impossible deal. She wanted to position herself between the two political parties, and she wanted to protect Medicare and Medicaid. When it proved impossible to do both, she claimed otherwise — and put a higher priority on politics than policy. In Trump’s Washington, other centrist Republicans are going to face a version of her dilemma, again and again. They are going to have decide which matters more to them: being a loyal Republican or being an actual centrist.”

What about her assertions that these other bills will mitigate the damage of the tax scam?

National Public Radio: “Doubts Rise About Sen. Collins’ Strategy To Shore Up Insurance Market.” “Sen. Susan Collins, the Maine Republican whose vote was pivotal in pushing the GOP tax bill forward last week, thought she had a deal to bolster health care protections in exchange for her support. But it’s now unclear whether her strategy to shore up part of the Affordable Care Act will prevail or that it would produce the results she anticipates… Would Collins’ changes offset the elimination of the mandate? Some analysts question whether the bill restoring the federal cost-sharing subsidy payments could actually do more harm than good. ‘It’s a mess,’ says insurance industry consultant Robert Laszewski.”

Bloomberg: “These Senators Could Doom Tax Cuts (But Won’t).” “Collins says she has commitments from party leaders that the Medicare cuts never would be enacted, along with support for separate legislation that would address problems like insurance-premium increases caused by the mandate repeal… There are several problems with these reassurances. Nobody can promise now that a future Congress won’t cut Medicare. Nor is there any guarantee that the House of Representatives would go along with the separate measures to help the insurance market.”

Washington Post: “Susan Collins is enabling a bad tax bill.” “Collins’s support for the two measures, she would argue, mitigates some of the damage from repeal of the individual mandate. However, ‘some’ is not ‘all,’ and she has not attempted any fix beyond 2020. Andy Slavitt, former acting head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, tells me, ‘Even the study Senator Collins cited shows that the policies she’s proposing would undo only a small fraction of the coverage losses from mandate repeal and would have only temporary benefits. On the small chance that Paul Ryan decides to keep in Senator Collins’s amendments, this deal would not accomplish what she had hoped it would.’ And that brings us back to the original issue: Why allow Senate Republicans to wreck the individual exchanges under the guise of tax reform?”

Are the promises not to cut Medicare at least holding up?

Paul Ryan: “Perfectly Appropriate” to Look at Cuts.

Mark Walker: “Secured a Commitment” to Vote on These Cuts.

Senator Collins, it’s never been more clear: Mainers are furious over your vote, health care advocates are adamant about the problems it will bring, and the GOP’s lies are getting harder to cover by the hour. Do the right thing — oppose the GOP tax scam.

Sean England
In News, Capitol Hill

“She Got Rolled”: A Brief Summary of the Susan Collins-GOP Leadership Deal

Last week, Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) said her support for the GOP tax scam, which contains a sneaky repeal of the Affordable Care Act that kicks 13 million people off of their insurance, raises premiums double digits for millions more and guts Medicare by $25 billion, was due to a promise she was given by Republican leaders ensuring two health care stabilizations bills would be signed into law. While experts had made clear these stabilization bills wouldn’t offset the deleterious effects of repeal, in the following days it became clear the GOP has no intentions of moving these bills. In the past 24 hours, as the truth has begun to trickle out, the larger picture has begun to be revealed.

What happened?

Politico: “Speaker Paul Ryan has made clear he’s not bound by the deal.”“Collins went along with the tax bill that repeals Obamacare’s individual mandate after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pledged to pass a pair of bills propping up Obamacare’s shaky insurance markets, including a bipartisan deal resuming payments on key subsidies that President Donald Trump halted in October. But Speaker Paul Ryan has made clear he’s not bound by the deal, and there’s little urgency among House Republicans to do much of anything on health care before the end of the year. On Thursday, Republican Study Committee Chairman Mark Walker said conservatives received assurances that talks on a spending package to keep the government open won’t address Obamacare. ‘The three things we were told are not gonna happen as part of our agreement: no CSRs, no DACA, no debt limit,’ he said, referring to efforts to fund Obamacare’s cost-sharing subsidies.That could cost Collins’ support after she signaled that her vote on the final bill may hinge on the fate of the health care measures.”

How are things going in Maine?

Boston Globe: “Maine’s Susan Collins was a health care hero, but now advocates are branding her a villain.” “Susan Collins received a hero’s welcome in Maine this summer after she stymied efforts by her fellow Senate Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Crowds applauded her at the airport. Activists brought her flowers and thank-you cards. Less than six months later, protesters returned to the Bangor airport, hoping to greet her with signs declaring ‘Shame.’ Collins didn’t show up… What dismayed health care advocates is part of the tax-cut legislation that wipes out a fundamental element of the federal health care law: the ‘individual mandate,’ which requires that all Americans either purchase insurance or pay a tax penalty. ‘We’re disappointed. Everyone’s disappointed,’ said Marie Follayttar Smith, a cofounder of Mainers for Accountable Leadership, a liberal grass-roots group that has organized several protests in the past week aimed at pressuring Collins to change her position on the tax bill.”

Portland Press-Herald: “Religious leaders arrested at Sen. Collins’ Portland office after sit-in to protest her vote on tax bill.” “A group of nine religious leaders protesting Sen. Susan Collins’ support of the tax reform effort were arrested by Portland police officers shortly after 8 p.m. Thursday. Police waited inside Collins’ office at One Canal Plaza, Suite 802, while the group prayed and streamed their protest live on Facebook. Officers explained that they would handcuff the protesters and take them out in groups of about five in order to fit in an elevator. Group members sang, ‘We are gentle, loving people, and we are singing for our lives,’ as they were led away.”

What are people saying about the deal she cut?

Boston Globe: “She made a political error that’s going to cost Mainers.”“Her critics say Collins got played by accepting those promises. Conservatives in the House are openly balking at voting for the two bipartisan health care bills Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell pledged would be adopted by the full Congress by the end of the year. News reports this week revealed that House Speaker Paul Ryan told congressional staff after the Senate vote that he was not a party to McConnell’s promise to pass the provisions that Collins demanded. ‘She made a political error that’s going to cost Mainers and cost people across the country basic lifelines while [helping] the wealthy,’ said Smith, the Maine activist.”

Bloomberg: “She got rolled.” “Her critics wonder what she’s thinking. ‘She got rolled,’ said Jim Manley, a Democratic lobbyist who worked for former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. ‘Despite the fact that she’s a veteran legislator, as far as I’m concerned she got rolled here. The promises she extracted from the Senate leadership aren’t worth the piece of paper they’re written on. The House is continuing to raise questions about why they’re bound by a deal in the Senate.’”

Huffington Post: “Collins is already being asked to accept more things on faith than she was supposed to.” “But no matter the ultimate conclusion, Collins is already being asked to accept more things on faith than she was supposed to. Earlier in the week, the House Freedom Caucus nearly derailed a vote to begin merging the separate versions of the tax legislation until leaders agreed to ‘decouple’ the tax bill from the other spending bills, with Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) telling reporters that the final tax bill would now likely come next week, days before Senators vote again on a spending bill. If that’s the case, Collins will once again be asked to vote for legislation she believes is harmful to Americans with the promise that Congress will mitigate their actions in the future.”

What is Sen. Collins herself saying?

WABI: “Senator Collins Responds to GOP Tax Bill Protesters, May Change Vote.” “Senator Susan Collins weighed in on the contentious tax bill debate from Washington DC. Collins believes the amendments she added in the Senate version on property tax and medical expense deduction for retirement funding improved the bill and that in time, it will lower the debt. But she told TV5 Thursday if those changes are not included in the final package, she will consider changing her vote.”

Sen. Collins — it’s clear: the GOP leadership doesn’t care about you, doesn’t care about honoring any promise they made and doesn’t care about health of this country. It’s time for you to oppose this tax scam.

Sean England
In Capitol Hill, News

GOP to Susan Collins: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said she voted for the GOP tax scam, which contains a sneaky repeal of the Affordable Care Act that kicks 13 million people off of their insurance, raises premiums double digits for millions more and guts Medicare by $25 billion, due to promises from GOP leadership to move forward with health care stabilization bills. Experts made clear these stabilization bills would be largely meaningless, Sen. Collins nonetheless argued that she had a deal. In the days since the vote, however, something else has been made abundantly clear: these so-called promises were blatant lies:

The Hill: “Ryan’s office warning he wasn’t part of deal on ObamaCare: source.” “Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) office told a meeting of congressional leadership offices on Monday that the Speaker is not part of a deal to get ObamaCare fixes passed before the end of the year, according to a source familiar with the meeting. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made a commitment to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) that he would support passage of two bipartisan ObamaCare bills before the end of the year, a promise that helped win her vote for tax reform. However, Ryan’s office told a meeting of staff from the four top congressional leadership offices on Monday that he has not made that same commitment, raising further questions about whether the ObamaCare bills, already opposed by House conservatives, can pass the House.”

Portland Press-Herald: “House Republicans balk at concessions Sen. Collins obtained for her tax reform vote.” “Beyond Ryan, Rep. Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma, a leader in the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said the Alexander-Murray bill could not pass the House, according to The Hill’s report. ‘The package that’s put together today is just not sufficient to get the votes,’ Cole said. ‘You will not get the votes here.’”

The Daily Beast: “House Republicans Already Shooting Down Tax Bill’s Promises.” “Lawmakers made it clear that they felt no reason to support the proposed deals, and blamed Senate leaders for trying to wheel and deal their way to a successful result on reforming the tax code and slashing rates, an issue they believe all Republicans should have been united around from the start.”

New York Magazine: “Susan Collins Wanted to ‘Get to Yes’ on Tax Bill So Badly She Accepted Promises Written in Vanishing Ink.” “Some observers are lumping the assurances Jeff Flake got on DACA as equivalent to Collins’s deal, but the promises made to Flake were both vague and not at all linked to any timetable. The senator from Maine got a commitment for presidential and Senate leadership support for very specific legislation, and from McConnell at least, a very specific timetable (before the end of 2017). It now appears that one reason for last night’s surprising House conservative threat to the routine measure to appoint tax-bill conferees was to place deals like those struck by Collins totally off the table.”

HOW HAS THIS PLAYED OUT IN MAINE?

Bangor Daily News: “Collins ‘let the people of Maine down’ with her vote to pass tax bill, protesters say.” “After U.S. Sen. Susan Collins voted early Saturday morning in support of the Republican bill to overhaul the tax code, some Mainers broke out in protest over the weekend, calling Collins’ vote a betrayal. Gathered outside Collins’ Portland office Friday night before the vote, Mainers for Accountable Leadership co-founder Gordon Adams told Portland-based ABC affiliate WMTW that Collins, who came out in support of Senate the tax bill, ‘has really let the people of Maine down.’”

WGME: “Protesters gather in front of Sen. Collins office after support of tax bill.” “Protesters gathered outside Senator Susan Collins’ offices in Portland after she announced her support for the GOP tax reform bill. Within an hour of Senator Susan Collins’ announcement, a group of protesters showed up outside of her office in downtown Portland, saying they were unhappy with her decision.”

Mic: “In Maine, Susan Collins’ “yes” vote on tax plan brings devastation.”“Residents in Collins’ home state have demonstrated notable support for the ACA. In November, Maine became the first state to vote to expand Medicaid via a ballot initiative. Maine’s residents are leading the nation in the growth of people with health insurance through Obamacare open enrollment. A recent poll said a majority of Maine residents opposed the Senate tax plan, while fewer than a quarter supported it… ‘Maine is a rural state, a small business state and the oldest state in the country and Mainers are exactly the people who are targeted by the health care cuts and tax increases in this bill,’ Tipping said. ‘We definitely won’t see clapping at the airport.’”

Sean England
In News

Memo From Andy Slavitt: 3 Reasons Sen. Susan Collins Should Demand Health Repeal be Removed from the GOP Tax Bill

To: Interested Parties

From: Andy Slavitt, Former Acting Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Date: December 5, 2017

Subject: 3 Reasons Sen. Susan Collins Should Demand Health Repeal be Removed from the GOP Tax Bill

Last week, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) joined 50 of her Republican colleagues to pass a sneaky health care repeal bill under the guise of tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations. This legislation, if enacted into law, will result in13 million people losing their health coverage, raising premiums by ten percent, forcing higher costs on older Americans to pay more for their care, and jeopardizing Medicare. Here are three reasons why Sen. Collins should reconsider her vote as Congress considers a final bill.

First, This Tax Bill Hurts Mainers’ Health Care, Especially Older Mainers.The Senate tax bill repeals the provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that requires most individuals to have health coverage, the consequences of which would increase the number of uninsured, raise costs and devastate insurance markets. This is why 19 leading patient groups — including the American Heart Association, the American Diabetes Association, and the American Cancer Society; six leading industry groups — including the America’s Health Insurance Plans, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and the Federation of American Hospitals; and more than 2,400 faith leaders opposed repealing this provision arguing it would have serious consequences for care, particularly for people with chronic or major health conditions.

One estimate shows in Maine alone, family premiums in the marketplace will increase on average by $2,350 in 2019, and 50,000 Mainers will lose coverage by 2025.

Older Mainers would not be spared. The AARP estimates a 64-year-old will have to pay $1,748 more in premiums because of health repeal, essentially an age tax for people over 50.

In her own words, Sen. Collins expressed concern about including health repeal in the tax bill, calling it the bill’s “biggest mistake.” Last month she said, “The fact is that, if you do pull this piece of the Affordable Care Act out, for some middle-income families, the increased premium is going to cancel out the tax cut that they would get.”

Second, This Bill Jeopardizes Medicare. This tax bill jeopardizes Medicare funding and therefore the guarantee for senior health care. The Congressional Budget Office said budgetary rules would trigger $25 billion in Medicare cutsas a result of the tax bill the Senate passed, which would result in a $120 million cut for Maine next year alone. Sen. Collins said she received a “personal commitment” from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) that these Medicare cuts would not happen. McConnell and House Speaker Ryan said Congress previously waived these rules in the past, so there is no reason why they would not in the future.

But here is a reason: Republicans are already talking about the need to cut Medicare and Social Security to deal with the $1.5 trillion this tax bill adds to the national debt. On the chopping block: Medicare and Social Security. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) recently said, “we’ve got a lot of work to do in cutting spending.” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) was more explicit, saying, “We have to generate economic growth which generates revenue, while reducing spending. That will mean instituting structural changes to Social Security and Medicare for the future.”

Third, Sen. Collins’ Proposed Fixes To Health Repeal Won’t Undo The Harm Of Health Repeal, Even If They Do Pass. Sen. Susan Collins agreed to vote for the tax bill after getting assurances from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to consider two pieces of legislation she believes would mitigate some of the damage caused by repealing the ACA’s requirement most people have health insurance: the so-called Alexander-Murray and Collins-Nelson bills. However, they won’t work to undo the damage of increasing the number of uninsured, raising costs and destabilizing the markets. Here is why.

The Alexander-Murray bill temporarily funds cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments that help lower people’s deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs. But that assumed that the marketplaces would not be upended by repealing the individual mandate. Passing Alexander-Murray after repealing health care is akin to installing guardrails on the highway after your car has gone over the cliff. The Congressional Budget Office concluded Alexander-Murray in light of health repeal would essentially be a fig leaf, writing, “the effects on premiums and the number of people with health insurance coverage would be similar.” Plus, the funding for Alexander-Murray would only help lower premiums for silver plan holders in 2019, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. What about people who chose other types of plans? Their premiums still go up 10 percent. What about after 2019? Premiums go up.

Next, the Collins-Nelson bill would temporarily fund a reinsurance program to mitigate the devastating impacts of health repeal. As the Center on Budgetfound, “Pairing mandate repeal with the Collins-Nelson bill, or a similar approach, thus would not change the fact that repealing the mandate would drive up uninsured rates. That would weaken access to care, health, and financial security for millions of people. It would also substantially raiseuncompensated care costs, which would ultimately be borne by providers, other health care consumers, and taxpayers.”

There Is No Guarantee These Bills Sen. Collins Is Proposing Will Become Law. A close reading of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s assurances to Sen. Collins, coupled with past statements from Republican Leaders, raises serious doubts about whether the proposed legislation she wants would become law.

House Republicans have been very reluctant to consider the Alexander-Murray bill. Speaker Paul Ryan has not committed to passing it as part of the tax bill, and he previously opposed it. House conservatives called it a “nonstarter.” President Trump has been all over the map on this issue, from supporting to opposing to again supporting — so who knows what he would do.

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), the chair of the influential House Freedom Caucus objected to passing the Collins-Nelson bill as part of the tax deal.

On ABC’s This Week, Sen. McConnell explained the assurances he gave Sen. Collins:

I’ve committed to Senator Collins to offer Alexander Murray and another bill that she and Senator Nelson from Florida are offering to one of these year-end bills that we’ll be doing in the next couple of weeks. The president is committed to signing it. And we intend to keep our commitment.

So, McConnell is only committing to offering the bills, not guaranteeing they will be included in must-pass legislation. He only mentions President Trump is committed to signing it, but fails to mention anything about the House.

The negative consequences this tax bill has to people’s health care is just one of long list of reasons why Sen. Collins should reconsider her vote as Congress considers a final proposal. There is still time for her to change her mind. We hope she does.

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