Health Care | Senator Susan Collins

There is no question that our nation’s health care system requires substantial reform. The status quo of soaring health care costs, struggling families, and health care provider shortages across Maine and the nation is unacceptable. Senator Collins frequently works with her colleagues on both sides of the aisle to address these and other important issues facing our nation such as improved mental health care, drug treatment programs, supporting America’s caregivers, and nutrition programs.

As a native to northern Maine, Senator Collins understands the specific challenges that rural communities face for medical care. Throughout her time in the Senate, Senator Collins has consistently supported programs to expand access to and improve the health care system, particularly for citizens living in rural areas.

As a freshman legislator, Senator Collins founded the Senate Diabetes Caucus and has since led the effort to more than triple federal funding for diabetes research.

Senators Collins, Shaheen Urge CMS to Provide Coverage for Glucose Monitoring Smartphone Apps

Washington, D.C. – The co-chairs of the Senate and House Diabetes Caucus, U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and U.S. Representatives Tom Reed (R-NY) and Diana DeGette (D-CO), sent a letter to Seema Verma, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), urging the agency to review a Medicare policy that prohibits beneficiaries from using smartphone applications in conjunction with their continuous glucose monitors (CGM).

Legislation to Lower Health Insurance Premiums in Individual Market by up to 40% Proposed for Omnibus Spending Bill

Would also help those who are below 250% of the poverty level who receive government assistance to help them pay for their deductibles and co-pays

“A self-employed plumber making $60,000 may be paying $20,000 for health insurance. Our proposal could cut up to $8,000 from that insurance bill.”

—Sens. Lamar Alexander and Susan Collins, Congressmen Greg Walden and Ryan Costello

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Leading Health Care and Business Groups Urge Congress to Take Action to Lower Health Care Premiums

Leading health care and business groups joined together this morning to call on Congressional Leadership to take urgent action to reduce premiums for millions of Americans and their families.

Dear Leaders McConnell and Schumer, Speaker Ryan, and Leader Pelosi:

Americans need action now.

We came together earlier this month to stress the importance of congressional action to lower healthcare premiums. Time is running out.

Sen. Collins at Research!America Event

Senator Collins Honored by Research!America for Her Strong Advocacy for Biomedical Research

Click HERE for a high-quality photo of Senator Collins with Congressma

Senators Collins, McCaskill, Stabenow Lead Bipartisan Group of Senators in Introducing Legislation to Prohibit “Gag Clauses” That Cause Consumers to Pay Higher Prices for Prescription Drugs

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) led a bipartisan group of Senators in introducing two bills to remove barriers that prevent patients from paying the lowest possible price for prescription drugs. The Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act and the Know the Lowest Price Act would prohibit health insurers and pharmacy benefit managers from using “pharmacy gag clauses” – an egregious practice that some companies use to conceal prices from patients at the pharmacy.

Report: Individual Insurance Premiums Next Year 40% Lower Under Alexander-Murray, Collins-Nelson Than if Congress Doesn’t Act

Washington, D.C.

Government Funding Bill Includes Provisions to Address Doctor Shortages & Train Next Generation of Physicians

Washington, D.C. — Following a bipartisan effort led by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Jon Tester (D-MT), the government funding bill will extend and provide $126.5 million for each of fiscal years 2018 and 2019 for the successful Teaching Health Centers Graduate Medical Education Program, which trains physicians in underserved, community-based settings.

Full 2-Year Reauthorization of Special Diabetes Program Included in Funding Bill

Washington, D.C. – Following a bipartisan push from U.S.

Following a Longtime Effort from Senators Collins and Shaheen, Medicare May Now Provide Coverage for New Lifesaving Diabetes Therapies

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the co-chairs of the Senate Diabetes Caucus, released the following statement after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that new technologies used for the delivery of insulin, such as the Omnipod system, may now be covered under Medicare Part D.

Majority Leader McConnell, Speaker Ryan Release Statement Recognizing Senator Collins’ Effort to Prevent $25 Billion Cut to Medicare

Washington, D.C.—Following the passage of a continuing resolution that includes a provision preventing an automatic cut to Medicare, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) released a statement recognizing Senator Collins’ efforts to ensure this $25 billion reduction did not go into effect.

Congress Averts $25 Billion Cut to Medicare Following Effort Led by Senator Collins

Senator Collins urged swift action to avert these cuts and secured commitments from Majority Leader McConnell and Speaker Ryan to avoid an automatic 4% cut to Medicare

Click HERE to watch Senator Collins’ remarks on the Senate floor

Collins, Klobuchar, Baldwin Press Strongbridge Biopharma for Answers on Dramatic Price Increase for Keveyis Drug that Treats Glaucoma and Rare Genetic Disease

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) have pressed Strongbridge Biopharma for answers on the dramatic price increase for Keveyis, formerly known as Daranide, a drug that treats glaucoma and a type of rare genetic disease known as periodic paralysis, which causes attacks of muscle weakness or loss of muscle movement. After a series of companies bought and sold the right to the decades-old dichlorphenamide, the list price was hiked from $50 to $13,650 for 100 pills in 2015.

NAIC Says the Provisions of Alexander-Murray and Collins-Nelson Will Significantly Reduce Health Insurance Premiums, Stabilize the Individual Market

Washington, D.C.

Collins, King Join Bipartisan Group of Senators to Urge Congressional Leadership to Commit Resources to Opioid Epidemic

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King joined a bipartisan group of nine senators in a letter to Leaders McConnell (R-Ky.) and Schumer (D-N.Y.) today calling on them to provide states like Maine with the resources they need to tackle the ongoing opioid epidemic. In their letter, the bipartisan group urged Senate leadership to include additional funding dedicated to addressing the public health crisis in the upcoming supplemental and omnibus appropriations legislation.

Leading Health Care Experts at Oliver Wyman Show Alexander-Murray, Collins-Nelson Will More Than Offset Impact of Individual Mandate Repeal

Washington, D.C.

Senator Collins Questions Experts on Ways to Reduce Prescription Drug Costs

Click HERE to watch Senator Collins’ Q&A with hearing witnesses

Senator Collins Questions Experts on the Progress Made Since Implementation of 21st Century Cures Act

Click HERE to watch Senator Collins’ Q&A with hearing witnesses

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ICYMI: “Study: ObamaCare bills backed by Collins would lower premiums”

“Study: ObamaCare bills backed by Collins would lower premiums”

By: Peter Sullivan

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A Bold Approach to Fighting Alzheimer’s

November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month, first declared by President Ronald Reagan in 1983. Just 11 years later, President Reagan himself was diagnosed with the terrible disease that eventually claimed his life, as it has claimed the lives of so many others.

ICYMI: "Bipartisan bill pushes for the ‘next step’ in solving Alzheimer’s"

ICYMI:

"Bipartisan bill pushes for the ‘next step’ in solving Alzheimer’s"

Collins-Shaheen Bipartisan Legislation to Establish National Diabetes Commission Signed Into Law

Washington, D.C.

Senators Collins, King Announce Maine Locations for 2017 Drug Take-Back Day

Washington, D.C. -Ahead of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day this Saturday, October 28^th, U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Angus King (I-ME) announced the locations of the Maine collection sites.

Senator Collins Joins Bipartisan Group of 24 Senators to Cosponsor Legislation to Stabilize Premiums, Increase Access to Insurance

U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a member of the Senate Health Committee, today joined a group of 24 senators – 12 Republicans and 12 Democrats led by Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) – who support bipartisan legislation to help stabilize premiums and access to insurance in individual health insurance markets.

Senators Collins, Shaheen’s Bipartisan Legislation to Establish National Diabetes Commission Heads to President’s Desk

Washington, D.C. - The National Clinical Care Commission Act recently passed Congress unanimously and will now head to the President’s desk to be signed into law. The bipartisan legislation was authored by U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), co-chairs of the Senate Diabetes Caucus, to establish a national commission of health care experts to advance diabetes care and prevention.

Senator Collins Presses Health Agency Leaders on Developing Solutions to Opioid Crisis that is “Tearing Apart Our Communities and Costing the Lives of So Many”

Click HERE to watch Senator Collins’ Q&A with hearing witnesses
Note to assignment editors and news directors: Click HERE for high-quality video of Senator Collins’ Q&A with hearing witnesses

More Than 300 Advocacy Groups Oppose Graham-Cassidy

Washington, D.C. - More than 300 health care advocacy groups, including several representing Mainers, oppose the Graham-Cassidy health care proposal. This astonishing number of advocacy groups representing physicians, patients, insurance providers, and hospitals highlighted a wide range of reasons for their opposition to the proposal, including:

U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Tammy Baldwin’s RAISE Family Caregivers Act Unanimously Passes Senate

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) today applauded the unanimous passage of the Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage, or RAISE Family Caregivers Act, in the U.S. Senate. The bipartisan legislation to establish a coordinated strategy to support family caregivers now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Senator Susan Collins

Issues: Health Care

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Senators Collins, Shaheen Urge CMS to Provide Coverage for Glucose Monitoring Smartphone Apps

Legislation to Lower Health Insurance Premiums in Individual Market by up to 40% Proposed for Omnibus Spending Bill

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Leading Health Care and Business Groups Urge Congress to Take Action to Lower Health Care Premiums

Sen. Collins at Research!America Event

Senator Collins Honored by Research!America for Her Strong Advocacy for Biomedical Research

Senators Collins, McCaskill, Stabenow Lead Bipartisan Group of Senators in Introducing Legislation to Prohibit “Gag Clauses” That Cause Consumers to Pay Higher Prices for Prescription Drugs

Report: Individual Insurance Premiums Next Year 40% Lower Under Alexander-Murray, Collins-Nelson Than if Congress Doesn’t Act

Government Funding Bill Includes Provisions to Address Doctor Shortages & Train Next Generation of Physicians

Full 2-Year Reauthorization of Special Diabetes Program Included in Funding Bill

Following a Longtime Effort from Senators Collins and Shaheen, Medicare May Now Provide Coverage for New Lifesaving Diabetes Therapies

Majority Leader McConnell, Speaker Ryan Release Statement Recognizing Senator Collins’ Effort to Prevent $25 Billion Cut to Medicare

Congress Averts $25 Billion Cut to Medicare Following Effort Led by Senator Collins

Collins, Klobuchar, Baldwin Press Strongbridge Biopharma for Answers on Dramatic Price Increase for Keveyis Drug that Treats Glaucoma and Rare Genetic Disease

NAIC Says the Provisions of Alexander-Murray and Collins-Nelson Will Significantly Reduce Health Insurance Premiums, Stabilize the Individual Market

Collins, King Join Bipartisan Group of Senators to Urge Congressional Leadership to Commit Resources to Opioid Epidemic

Leading Health Care Experts at Oliver Wyman Show Alexander-Murray, Collins-Nelson Will More Than Offset Impact of Individual Mandate Repeal

Senator Collins Questions Experts on Ways to Reduce Prescription Drug Costs

Senator Collins Questions Experts on the Progress Made Since Implementation of 21st Century Cures Act

the hill.jpg

ICYMI: “Study: ObamaCare bills backed by Collins would lower premiums”

Weekly Column_4_8_2_1.jpg

A Bold Approach to Fighting Alzheimer’s

ICYMI: "Bipartisan bill pushes for the ‘next step’ in solving Alzheimer’s"

Collins-Shaheen Bipartisan Legislation to Establish National Diabetes Commission Signed Into Law

Senators Collins, King Announce Maine Locations for 2017 Drug Take-Back Day

Senator Collins Joins Bipartisan Group of 24 Senators to Cosponsor Legislation to Stabilize Premiums, Increase Access to Insurance

Senators Collins, Shaheen’s Bipartisan Legislation to Establish National Diabetes Commission Heads to President’s Desk

Senator Collins Presses Health Agency Leaders on Developing Solutions to Opioid Crisis that is “Tearing Apart Our Communities and Costing the Lives of So Many”

More Than 300 Advocacy Groups Oppose Graham-Cassidy

U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Tammy Baldwin’s RAISE Family Caregivers Act Unanimously Passes Senate

Health Policy Specialists Confirm Graham-Cassidy Health Care Proposal Would Have a Devastating Impact on Maine

Senator Collins Opposes Graham-Cassidy Health Care Bills

ICYMI: Senator Collins Discusses Health Care on CBS’s “Face the Nation”

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