Senator Collins returns to Maine this weekend and faces scathing local headlines and editorials calling out the dangerous Republican Senate health care bill that would strip 22 million Americans’ access to health care and gut Medicaid. The latest CBO report confirms spending cuts would grow even deeper in the second decade increasing by 35% by 2036, causing even more unnecessary anguish for Mainers.

Newspapers across the state are making it clear that Sen. Collins should not support the GOP’s cruel repeal bill.

Portland Press Herald: Older, rural Mainers would be hit hard by Senate bill

“Older, rural Mainers purchasing individual health insurance would be socked with massive premium increases if the Senate version of the replacement to the Affordable Care Act becomes law…”

“The health insurance premiums would consume almost half of the annual income of 60-year-old Mainers living in rural Washington, Aroostook and Hancock counties earning about $44,000, and 30 percent of the income of an equivalent Cumberland County resident.

“‘It’s stunning,’ said Steve Butterfield, public policy director for Consumers for Affordable Health Care, an Augusta-based health advocacy group. ‘People aren’t going to have thousands of extra dollars around to spend on health insurance.’”

Bangor Daily News: Here’s who benefits least and most in Maine under the Senate health bill

“If you’re a 60-year-old in Maine, you’ll pay higher health insurance premiums on the marketplace if the U.S. Senate’s plan to replace Obamacare passes, no matter where in the state you live or how much you make.

“But you’re in for an eye-popping $15,900 increase in annual premiums if you earn $50,000 at that age and you live in Aroostook, Washington, or Hancock counties. Under Obamacare, you pay $5,100 in premiums every year for a middle-of-the-road plan, or $425 a month after tax credits kick in. Under the Senate’s Better Care Reconciliation Act, you’d pay $21,090, or $1,757 a month, with no tax credit to soften the blow.”