The government just shut down and Susan Collins is right where she usually is: siding with Republicans to undermine health care.
Susan Collins and the GOP would rather shut down the government than fund Affordable Care Act tax credits which are set to expire by the end of the year if no action is taken. Without the ACA tax credits, over 50,000 Mainers will see a spike in cost for their health insurance. She even called funding the ACA tax credits a “poison pill.” Collins has even refused to sponsor a bill to make the health care tax credits permanent.
“Susan Collins has spent three decades in Washington and the one thing she’s consistent on is putting Mainers’ health care at risk,” said American Bridge 21st Century spokesperson Nico Delgado. “She didn’t listen when Mainers protested all August. Instead, she’s helping Republicans hold the government hostage unless they get to rip away more health care from Mainers.”
Undermining health care isn’t new for Collins. In the last 30 years, she:
- Voted to gut the ACA over a dozen times, which has saved older Mainers $87 million by closing the Medicare gap – and she’s opposed measures like the $35 insulin cap.
- Backed GOP budgets in 2015 and 2017 that called for over $430 billion in Medicare cuts – and included massive Medicaid cuts of $500 billion and $1 trillion, respectively.
- Voted to advance the “Big Beautiful Bill” out of committee, leading to Medicaid cuts and threats of hospital closures in Ellsworth and Aroostook.
- Backed a 2011 plan to limit growth in Medicare and Medicaid, and supported a 1997 budget that pushed to raise the retirement age.
- Accepted hefty donations from health insurance giants that are driving up premiums for Mainers.
Published: Oct 1, 2025