Senator Collins' Reaction To Supreme Court Healthcare Decision

     WASHINGTON,D.C.—U.S. Senator Susan Collins released this statement following
the U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding the Affordable Care Act.

     “The Supreme Court has the responsibility to decide
whether or not a law is constitutional and has rendered its verdict on the
Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.  I continue to believe that
President Obama and Congressional Democrats overreached their authority when
they enacted a partisan law that will ultimately increase health care costs,
decrease choice, impose billions of dollars in new taxes and penalties, and
greatly expand the role of the federal government.  Our nation faces
overwhelming financial challenges, including a nearly $16 trillion debt, and
this health care law will only make avoiding the coming fiscal cliff even more
daunting.

     “There can be no question, however, that our nation’s health care system requires
substantial reform.  A clean decision by the Court to overturn this law
would have paved the way for Congress to start over in a bipartisan fashion, as
we should have from the start, to draft a health care bill that achieves the
consensus goals of improving access and quality, providing more choice,
containing health care costs, and making health care coverage more affordable
for all Americans. 

     “The Supreme Court was right to concur with the 26 states, including Maine, that
challenged the healthcare law’s mandate to dramatically expand their Medicaid
programs or risk losing their Medicaid funding.  Maine already has a
generous Medicaid program.  Had the Medicaid mandate been upheld, financially-strapped states would have been forced to make draconian cuts in other critically
important areas such as transportation, education, and many others in order to
comply with this expensive federal mandate.  Ultimately, this provision
was a false promise because it would not have been sustainable.

     “I also am particularly concerned about the impact that this law will have on Maine’s
small businesses, which are our state’s job creation engine.  The law
discourages small businesses from hiring new employees and paying them
more.  It could also lead to onerous financial penalties, even for those
small businesses that are struggling to provide health insurance for their
employees.  Even where the law tries to help small businesses, it misses
the mark.  For example, I have long been a proponent of tax credits to
help small businesses afford health insurance for their employees.  The
new credits for small businesses in the health care law, however, are poorly
structured.  They are phased out in such a way that businesses will
actually be penalized when they hire new workers or pay their employees
more.  Moreover, they are temporary and can only be claimed for two years
in the insurance exchanges.

     “In the wake of the Supreme Court’s divided decision on this law, I continue to hope
that Congress will work together to change the law substantially not only in
response to the Court’s decision but also to respond to the very real health
care concerns of the American people as well as the budget realities we face.”

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