Wednesday in an interview with Yahoo News’ Katie Couric, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said there was little hope in the U.S. Senate for the House GOP healthcare bill should it make its way out of the House.
“I’m still looking at the bill, but I have a lot of concerns about it,” Collins said. “For example, some initial analysis suggests that as many as 6-10 million people could lose their health insurance. And for seniors, who make a disproportionate amount of the population in Maine, it would mean substantial premium increases that would not be covered by the increase credit. So those are two concerns that I have.”
After laying out some more problems she had with the legislation, she said she agreed with Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) assertion the bill would be dead on arrival in the U.S. Senate, but not for the same reasons as Paul.
“I do not think it would be well received in the Senate,” she said. “But I do want to emphasize that it’s still a work in progress. The House committees are going to be working their will on the bill and it has to go before the full House before it comes to us. And it’s been a work in progress, as Secretary Price has said. And, the bill that was released this week is far better than the bill we were briefed on the week before. So, who knows, maybe it will eventually get better — and thus, will be better received in the Senate.”
(h/t RCP Video)
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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