Republican Sen. Susan Collins told CNN on Wednesday she was "disappointed" that a bipartisan healthcare effort fell apart, while the Republican-only Graham-Cassidy bill gained momentum instead.
One Republican, Sen. Rand Paul, already has publicly refused to support the Graham-Cassidy bill, and the GOP, with 52 seats in the Senate, can only afford to lose only one more Republican vote and still pass the bill.
Following the announcement on Tuesday that a joint GOP-Democratic effort in the Senate Health Committee to help fix existing problems in Obamacare and stabilize insurance markets had failed, Collins said, "I am disappointed that Republican leaders have decided to freeze this bipartisan approach and are trying to jam through a partisan Trumpcare bill, but I am confident that we can reach a deal if we keep working together — and I am committed to getting that done."
The Maine senator insisted that the four hearings the health committee held recently were "substantive" and "the kind of hearings that we need," according to CNN.
Collins stressed she has serious concerns about the Graham-Cassidy proposal, but would not make a decision until the Congressional Budget Office publishes a partial analysis of the bill.
That is only expected early next week, very close to the Sept. 30 deadline for passing the legislation with only 50 votes.
The Washington Examiner reported that she is upset that the nonpartisan CBO won't have enough time to fully review the bill, saying "That's problematic, because that is part of the problem of short-circuiting the process."
Her concerns were similar to those of another Republican unsure of his vote on the bill, Arizona Sen. John McCain, who is also dissatisfied with the process used by Republicans to try to repeal Obamacare. He said GOP leaders should hold committee hearings and take into account the opinions of Democrats.
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