GOP Senator's Opposition to Health Care Bill Firms Up

It now sounds like Sen. Susan Collins is doing a little more than "leaning against" the GOP's newest ObamaCare repeal effort. "It's very difficult for me to envision a scenario where I would end up voting for this bill," CNN quotes the Maine Republican as saying Sunday on State of the Union. Collins says she's worried about the Graham-Cassidy bill's protections for people with pre-existing conditions and the way it will replace subsidies and Medicaid expansion with block grants.

While it appears Collins will be the third Republican senator to vote against the bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act—killing it along with senators John McCain and Rand Paul—she says she can't be sure until she sees the Congressional Budget Office score for the bill, which is expected Monday. The GOP can't afford to have three Republican senators vote against the Graham-Cassidy bill. With McCain, Paul, and Collins all apparently opposed—and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who voted against the last ObamaCare repeal bill, still undecided—its future looks dicey. The Senate parliamentarian says the GOP's ability to pass a repeal bill with just 51 votes ends Sept. 30. (More Susan Collins stories.)