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Collins: 'I Will Vote No' on ACA Repeal Without Replacement

Andrew Harnik
/
Associated Press
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine is pursued by reporters as she arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, July 18, 2017.

Maine U.S. Sen. Susan Collins says she will oppose efforts by Senate majority Leader Mitch McConnell to repeal Obamacare before a replacement for the health care law is developed.

“I will vote 'no' on the motion to proceed to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement," she says. "I voted against this same proposal in 2015 and I do not think that it’s going to be constructive.”

And - as she did before - Collins says repealing without replacing will cause turmoil in the insurance industry and put many at risk of no coverage. 

Collins says she  wants the Senate Health, Labor and Pensions Committee to start hearings on creating a replacement law that fixes the problems with the Affordable Care Act before further action is taken.

"What I am recommending is that Sen. Lamar Alexander, the chairman of the HELP Committee, start hearings to look at what we can do to fix the many egregious flaws in the ACA so that it will work better for our country and for all Americans,” she says.

This story was originally published on July 18, 2017 at 1:46 p.m. ET.

 

 

Journalist Mal Leary spearheads Maine Public's news coverage of politics and government and is based at the State House.