Save My Care, a group working to defend Obamacare, is launching a new TV ad against Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, to urge her to vote against the final version of the GOP tax plan.
The Senate version of the bill contains a provision that would repeal the Obamacare individual mandate penalties, which obligate people purchase health insurance or pay a fine. The House version does not contain the same provision, but the House has voted to repeal it before and House Speaker Paul Ryan said House Republicans believe it should be repealed.
Collins supported the bill to repeal the mandate in exchange for a guarantee from Senate leadership that two bills would come to the floor that will help fund Obamacare. One of the bills would trigger reinsurance to lower the costs of premiums for enrollees, and the other would fund cost-sharing reduction subsidies.
Still, Save My Care accused Collins of “ripping away healthcare from 13 million people … all to give tax breaks for the wealthy.”
A Congressional Budget Office projection shows 13 million more people will be uninsured without the mandate, but the nonpartisan agency is re-evaluating the way it carries out its projections on this particular provision. A Standard & Poor analysis projected 5 million or fewer people would be uninsured without the mandate. Insurers have said without a replacement, like a waiting period, they would exit the exchanges or hike the price of premiums.
The final version of the tax bill must be worked out in conference with the House and passed again by both chambers before going before the president.
But it’s unclear whether the bipartisan Obamacare measures will also pass both chambers. Ryan, R-Wis., on Thursday signaled Republican lawmakers could back them.
“She’s put some very constructive, productive solutions on the table,” Ryan, R-Wis., said of Collins’ agreement. “Our members are looking at the same kinds of solutions.”
The Save My Care ad cast doubt on whether the bill could be improved.
“Republican leaders promised her they would fix things, now we know they lied to her and Mainers will suffer the consequences,” the voiceover on the ad says, prompting viewers to call Collins’ office.
Also read: Trump to have physical at Walter Reed, will release records
