Collins Won’t Vote For GOP Repeal Bill In Current Form: It ‘Misses The Mark’

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) on Thursday said that she will not vote for the Republican bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, solidifying the legislation’s problems in the Senate.

“This is not a bill I could support in its current form,” she told the Portland Press Herald. “It really misses the mark.”

The Republican senator said that the bill does not do enough to help people afford health insurance.

“This bill doesn’t come close to achieving the goal of allowing low-income seniors to purchase health insurance,” she said. “We don’t want to in any way sacrifice coverage for people who need it the most.”

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has also said that he cannot vote for the bill without significant changes, and other Republicans in the Senate have signaled that they would need to see tweaks before they could throw their support behind the legislation.

Republican leaders in the House are still sticking behind their bill, and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Thursday dismissed concerns that the House measure was doomed in the Senate.

“My job is to move bills through the House,” he said at a press conference.

“The senators who have been critical of the House bill, none of them have called me. So I am not sure what exactly their concerns are,” Ryan added. “All I would say is, senators are not helpless with respect to the House. The House passes its bill. It’s sent to the Senate and then they get to take it from there. Senators, if they have a concern or an issue, are free to amend that bill when it goes over there.”