Susan Collins: “last week, on the very first day of this new Congress, I joined with my colleague from Louisiana, Senator Mary Landrieu…”

“last week, on the very first day of this new Congress, I joined with my colleague from Louisiana, Senator Mary Landrieu, in introducing the Access to Affordable Health Care Act. This is a comprehensive plan which builds on the strengths of our current public programs and private health care system to make affordable health care available to millions more Americans. It is similar to legislation we introduced in the last Congress. I hope, given the urgency of dealing with the cost of health care and health insurance, that this will be the year this legislation moves forward. One of my priorities in the Senate has long been to expand access to affordable health care. There are still far too many Americans without health insurance or with woefully inadequate coverage. As many as 46 million Americans are uninsured, and millions more are underinsured. The State of Maine is in the midst of a growing health insurance crisis, with insurance premiums rising at alarming rates. Whether I am talking to a self-employed fisherman, a displaced mill worker, the owner of a struggling small business, or the human resources manager of a large company, the soaring costs of health insurance are a common concern. These cost increases, double digit this past year, have been particularly burdensome for small businesses, the backbone of the Maine economy. Maine's small business owners want to provide coverage for their employees, but they are caught in a cost squeeze.”