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Susan Collins: Senate Will 'Start From Scratch' on Its Healthcare Bill

Susan Collins: Senate Will 'Start From Scratch' on Its Healthcare Bill
Sen. Susan Collins of Main (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

By    |   Sunday, 07 May 2017 12:33 PM EDT

Sen. Susan Collins declared Sunday the upper chamber would be "starting from scratch" on healthcare legislation after the House narrowly passed its own version of a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare.

In an interview with ABC News' "This Week," the Maine Republican said the Senate won't be rushed in their work.

"The Senate is starting from scratch," she said. "We're going to draft our own bill. And I'm convinced that we're going to take the time to do it right."

She also pushed back on frequent comparisons to Maine for how high-risk pools will work for sickest Americans, and those with pre-existing conditions in the House version of the American Health Care Act.

"I've heard a lot of talk about the Maine high-risk pool," she said. "And indeed, it was a success in Maine for the 18 months or so in which it operated before the passage of the [Obamacare] and it can be part of the solution.

"But in Maine, we had definite revenue streams supporting the high-risk pool, and that is why it worked. In the House bill, it's really up to the states to come up with whatever option they wish."

"So that could work and it could be part of a solution. But the devil really is in the details," she said.

For example, she said, under the House bill, coverage for pre-existing conditions "might well be unaffordable."

"And if the coverage is unaffordable, that doesn't do any good for a child who has juvenile diabetes and is going have that her entire life," she said. "And once she's no longer on her parents' policy, that's going to create problems in some states."

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Politics
Sen. Susan Collins declared Sunday the upper chamber would be "starting from scratch" on healthcare legislation after the House narrowly passed its own version of a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare.
susan collins, senate, start from scratch, ahca
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2017-33-07
Sunday, 07 May 2017 12:33 PM
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