WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Susan Collins issued the following statement after voting to proceed to consideration of both the Democratic- and Republican-sponsored health care proposals:
“For months, I have said I support extending the enhanced premium tax credits. Families in Maine and across the country are struggling with the high cost of health insurance, and I want to prevent an unaffordable spike in health insurance premiums for many Americans who rely on these COVID-era subsidies.
“I voted to proceed to both bills, but neither is the perfect solution to this problem. Therefore, I filed amendments to both bills with changes that would protect the vulnerable Americans who are receiving these enhanced premium tax credits, protect the taxpayer, and reform this system to protect against fraud.
“These taxpayer-funded credits must be reformed to ensure they are going to the low- and middle-income families and individuals who need them. It is not fair for the average taxpayer to subsidize the insurance premiums of individuals who are making hundreds of thousands of dollars. The pre-COVID law did not have this flaw. I filed an amendment to protect low- and middle- income families with a phaseout at $100,000 for single enrollees and $200,000 for couples and families.
“In addition to voting for a clean extension of these enhanced premium tax credits, I also voted for the alternative health care proposal filed by Chairmans Crapo and Cassidy. While their bill is not the solution to the problem at hand, it contains many important provisions that ought to be considered in a longer-term reform.
“My votes today reflect my understanding that two things can be true at once: the Affordable Care Act has proven itself to be unaffordable; it is a broken system that must be fixed—and it cannot be fixed overnight. The families that rely on it now, however, cannot be left facing huge premium increases with inadequate assistance.”
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