PRESS RELEASE
AT FINAL DEBATE ON 1ST DAY OF MEDICARE ENROLLMENT, COLLINS SERVES TRUMP WHILE JACKSON SERVES MAINE
BANGOR, ME — On the first day of Medicare Open Enrollment, Troy Jackson will meet Susan Collins for a final time on the debate stage and hold her accountable for her record of selling out Mainers. Instead of helping families, Collins has backed Trump’s war in Iran that’s raising energy costs as winter approaches, failed to stop his blanket tariffs, wrote a blank check to ICE with no oversight, confirmed Brett Kavanaugh who went on to overturn Roe v. Wade, and advanced Trump’s health care cuts to give billionaires tax breaks.
In the final debate, Jackson will drive home why Susan Collins can’t be trusted to fight for Mainers after voting with Trump 96% of the time, including while he stripped health care from Mainers all to give billionaires tax breaks. Now 60,000 Mainers could lose health care, and rural hospitals and birthing centers are on the brink of closure.
“Health care is a human right. No Mainer should avoid the doctor, ration their medicine, or face bankruptcy because they got sick. But Susan Collins doesn’t understand that, ” said Jackson. “Susan Collins knew that Trump’s cuts to health care would hurt Mainers and rural hospitals, but advanced them anyway. She’s tried over and over again to explain away her votes, but Mainers aren’t stupid and we see right through her excuses.”
What you need to know ahead of tonight’s debate:
Susan Collins knew that Trump’s health care cuts would hurt Maine, but advanced the bill anyway.
Collins voted to advance Trump’s health care cuts. Despite what she claims, Collins cast a critical vote to advance Trump’s bill to cut health care for around 60,000 Mainers.
Collins has tried to explain her vote for Trump’s health care cuts by touting the rural health fund, but her excuse has been fact checked false. When asked why she voted to advance Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” when she objected to its cuts to Medicaid and rural hospitals, she said, “I created the $50 billion rural healthcare fund.” But KFF, a national health care policy think tank, estimated that the $50 billion could not fully offset the $137 billion in Medicaid cuts states combined will see.
Collins has long opposed measures to make health care and prescription drugs more affordable. Susan Collins voted against allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug costs and the passage of the Affordable Care Act. Collins’ record includes voting over a dozen times to repeal or undermine the ACA, which delivered Mainers more than $1.4 billion in subsidies to afford health care, expanded coverage for tens of thousands, and instated protections for people with preexisting conditions.
Troy Jackson will tout his own record of fighting for affordable, accessible health care.
Troy Jackson will fight to un-rig the health care system and pass Medicare for All so that we can finally bring down costs for Mainers.
In the Maine Senate, Jackson proved that he will fight for and deliver health care for Maine by taking on Big Pharma, strengthening rural health care, fighting for affordable insulin, and lowering prescription drug prices.
In the U.S. Senate, Troy will fight to:
Lower health care costs: In the Senate, he would support and cosponsor the Medicare for All Act, take on Big Pharma and the insurance companies, and save working people money.
Lower the cost of prescription drugs: In the U.S. Senate, he'll fight for the federal government to negotiate drug prices directly, the way Canada, Australia, and New Zealand do.
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