ICYMI: Senator Collins Interviewed on CNN’s “New Day”

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. - This morning, U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a member of the Senate Health Committee, was interviewed by Chris Cuomo on CNN’s “New Day.”

A transcript of the interview follows:

“New Day”
October 18, 2017

CUOMO: Joining us now is Republican Senator Susan Collins. I wish I did not have to discuss what is going on between the president, a congresswoman, and the family of a slain soldier right now, Senator, but the president made it relevant. What is your take on this ongoing situation about how the president handled this loss of life?

COLLINS: First of all, I don't know what was said on the conversation. I have to believe that any president, as commander-in-chief, must feel incredible anguish, pain, and compassion when there are the deaths of the troops that he has been responsible for making the policy decision to send them into action. My heart goes out to the families of the four green berets who were killed in Niger, as well as all of those service members whose lives have been lost in combat over the past decade.

CUOMO: Look, obviously a big part of respecting the loss of these men and their families is to get answers. Let’s not forget, that's how this started. The president made the handling of the loss of life an issue in response to questions about why he ignored this ambush. What do we know, Senator? What do you think has to be discovered, and soon, about why this loss of life occurred?

COLLINS: The Department of Defense has begun an investigation, and that is really needed in this case. The fact that these soldiers were ambushed—and that we didn't know it was coming—indicates deficiencies or failures in two areas, at least. One is intelligence that we had, and second is whether or not they were given support enough to make sure they could respond instead of being caught up in a firefight. So this deserves a thorough investigation, and it’s my understanding that investigation is under way at the Pentagon.

CUOMO: Especially where this young man, David Johnson, is involved, if it's true that his body was left behind for over a day, what was it about? Why did this happen? This is the largest loss of life on President Trump's watch involving an aggressive force killing American troops. So, we are going to stay on it and we are going to stay on the part that matters most because that's how we respect the sacrifice of these men by getting answers on how they lose their lives. Let me ask you about another issue of great import to American families: This health care bill, are you okay with the Alexander-Murray compromise? Getting the cost sharing revenues back basically in the same form, there’s some changes to what President Trump took out is being put back. But this flexibility that is given to states. Flexibility is a defined term, Senator, and it could mean something for states like yours.

COLLINS: I believe that the two senators have negotiated an excellent package. It’s bipartisan. It will help stabilize the markets. It would prevent premiums from going up by on average 20 percent, which would be extremely harmful, and it would ensure that more insurers don't flee the marketplace, thus providing fewer or even no choices for consumers. Those are very important provisions. As far as flexibility, the bill is very careful to maintain protection for people with preexisting conditions, like asthma, or arthritis, or diabetes, or cancer. I strongly support the package because otherwise we will see chaos in the markets, and we are also going to see low-income people having difficulty in affording their out-of-pocket costs.

CUOMO: Right, I want to separate the two moves on this because they have different motivations. Most of what you are saying that this bill will protect against, it's protecting against what the president just made possible by cutting the revenues in the first place. Had he not done that, you wouldn’t need this bill to fix it. And I get that there is an ancillary argument about whose role it is to put in those kinds of things and it’s the subject of litigation that’s stalled right now. So that's one component. The flexibility and the change in that language, Senator, are there any concerns about what that will mean for states and their ability to carve out types of coverage, to create pools that may be good for the young and healthy but not good for the infirm?

COLLINS: The bill has been very carefully drafted to prevent those kinds of adverse consequences. I would contrast that with the proposal that was put forth by Senators Graham and Cassidy that would’ve allowed states to abandon some of those important consumer protections. But the bill that has been crafted by Senators Alexander and Murray keeps the essential health benefits in place, it gives more flexibility for states on how to meet those benefits, and also in the design of insurance by allowing there to be a so-called copper plan that nowadays is only available for people up to age 29, and would be substantially cheaper. It would still cover those benefits, but it would have a higher deductible. That would be attractive and help expand the pool, and that's really what insurance is all about. We’ve got to expand the pool if we are going to keep premiums down.

CUOMO: It’s one of the things that I guess was not fully understand by people, that the strong do have to give in order so that the weak and the sick can get the coverage they need. And I know that makes people uncomfortable, especially when they are young and healthy or don’t need that kind of coverage but that’s kind of the deal insurance has always been. We’ll see if that stays the same. Now the big question, will you get a vote on this?

COLLINS: Well that is the big question, indeed. Yesterday, I would have told you absolutely. It seemed to me everything was going very well, that the president, despite in some ways precipitating the crisis, had come onboard with this bipartisan approach, but now the White House is sending conflicting messages --

CUOMO: How so?

COLLINS: They now are saying that they are not quite sure they like it or whether it's necessary. No one should buy into the rhetoric that somehow this is a bailout for the big insurance companies. It is not. This money goes to people to help offset the out-of-pocket costs for people who make between 100 percent of the poverty level and 250 percent of the poverty level. So, it’s some of our most vulnerable citizens. And it’s really disturbing to hear it mischaracterized. Now that some opposition seems to be arising, I’m not sure what's going to happen, but I really think that we have a duty to act and to act quickly so that we can have an impact before open season starts, which is going to in just a few weeks.

CUOMO: If that period remains abbreviated as the president wants to do, you have even less time. What is your hint of what McConnell wants to do?

COLLINS: I am not sure. Leader McConnell gave ample opportunity for Lamar Alexander to present his plan to the caucus yesterday, but he did not follow-up by a full throated endorsement of it. So, I’m not sure what his plan is. I am certainly encouraging him to bring the bill to the floor, and if it comes to the floor, I think the votes are there. I can't speak for the House. And the votes, I believe, will be there in both bodies if the president reiterates his support for this short-term proposal. It does not solve all the problems with the ACA by any means, but it would give us more time to work on a series of bills to correct the flaws in the law.

CUOMO: Very interesting politics going on here with McConnell and the president, and it will be interesting to see what the Senate Leader does in this situation. Senator Collins, thank you for allowing us to vet what's in this bill and why you think it’s the right move for the American people. We will check back with you when the next step is taken.

COLLINS: Thank you, Chris.