ICYMI: Senator Collins Discusses Health Care on MSNBC’s “Meet the Press Daily”

Click HERE to watch the interview
Note to assignment editors and news directors: Click HERE for high-quality video of the interview

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Susan Collins appeared on MSNBC’s “Meet the Press Daily” with host Chuck Todd to discuss today’s release of the Senate health care bill.

A transcript of the interview follows:

“Meet the Press Daily”
June 22, 2017

TODD: Senator Collins, nice to talk to you.

COLLINS: Thank you.

TODD: So, we’ve heard criticism from the right, from the more conservative wing of your party. You heard Rand Paul; he believes there’s too much subsidy in here, it still looks too much like Obamacare. I look at this bill, Senator, and it looks a lot different from what you and Senator Bill Cassidy were proposing way back when on this show when you said it is essentially a bill that would allow states, if you like Obamacare, you can keep it. Where are you on this bill because it does not look like it’s a if you like Obamacare, you can keep it?

COLLINS: No, I agree that it does not fit that description, and I still believe that the bill that Bill Cassidy and I introduced was a better path forward and ultimately would have attracted bipartisan support, and that’s what we really need when we’re tackling an issue as difficult as health care is. I’m still going through the text of the bill, and of course we still don’t have the all-important CBO analysis of the effect on coverage, on the cost of premiums, and the impact of the Medicaid changes. But I do have concerns, particularly in the area of Medicaid, and I am worried about what the impact will be on people who are very vulnerable and have health care needs.

TODD: So that means, are you talking about those folks that are in that just above the poverty line but not—right now, under this bill—would not get a subsidy, under Obamacare would have gotten, depending on the state, would have gotten some coverage?

COLLINS: Well, “depending on the state” is the keyword. This bill would phase out the expansion of Medicaid to cover that very vulnerable low-income population. Now the good news is in the Senate bill is that population will for the first time be eligible for a subsidy for their insurance if they make below $12,000 a year, and right now in a state that did not expand Medicaid they get no help whatsoever. So that is a good provision that’s an improvement over the current law and the House bill. But there are deep Medicaid cuts down the road, and I am really concerned about what the impact of those cuts will be on the individuals who were covered as well as rural hospitals and other health care providers.

TODD: Look this bill, the House version of this bill, and if you want to say differently, go ahead. But it seems to me they are more similar than they are different, the Senate and the House bill. What we learned from the Congressional Budget Office on the House bill, their big concern was, while they said yes, this would lower premiums, that the cost of health care would go up, the individual cost to people, so while premiums would go down, your out-of-pocket costs would likely increase. How does this bill address that in the Senate?

COLLINS: My analysis is that out-of-pocket costs would increase under the Senate bill as well. That’s one of my major concerns, we’ll have to see what CBO says, but under the House bill, as you know, for that very vulnerable group between the age of 50 and 64, living in northern Maine and with an income of only $26,400, there would be as much as an 800 percent increase in premiums as well as higher deductibles and copays. We can’t have that happen. We are still waiting for the analysis from CBO to see what the impact will be. Do keep in mind that the Senate bill does adjust for income, which the House bill did not.

TODD: Let me ask you this, though. Look, you laid out an argument of why you are not in favor of this bill. How much—what is the personal level of, like, well, I don't like this bill but I will support it. What is that line for you as a Republican as Mitch McConnell says to you, don't be the only vote—don’t be the last vote that kills this. We know you don't like half of it. Is it the Planned Parenthood amendment? What is your line in the sand?

COLLINS: Well, I can’t support a bill that's going to greatly increase premiums for older Americans or out-of-pocket costs for those who aren’t quite old enough for Medicare yet. I cannot support a bill that's going to result in tens of millions of people losing their health insurance. And I cannot support a bill that is going to make such deep cuts in Medicaid that it's going to ship billions of dollars of costs to our state governments, to those who have insurance, and to health care providers such as rural hospitals, which would be faced with a great deal of uncompensated care. So it isn’t any one factor. I do care also about funding Planned Parenthood. But it is all of those factors put together that'll influence my decision. Until I’ve got the—

TODD: Can you imagine enough amendments passing that it would fulfill those pledges you just made?

COLLINS: Well, it is going to be an open amendment process, and I am sure many of us are going to have amendments. In addition, I want to see that CBO analysis because I don't know the exact impact yet.

TODD: All right, well then Senator Collins I will leave it there. As always, very thoughtful on this issue. I appreciate you coming on and sharing your views.

COLLINS: Thank you, Chuck.