According to one analysisthe GOP law’s estimated reductions in federal spending on rural Medicaid over the next decade would amount to nearly three times RHTP funding. Who is he? It is expected to lose approximately $3 billion in federal Medicaid funds over the next 10 years because of the Republican law — a massive hit that pro-Collins campaign ads are expected to avoid.
Collins, who is running for a sixth term against Democratic candidate Graham Blattner, Confirms They voted against the final passage of GOP budget legislation, known as the Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). But Collins threw a Decisive procedural vote That allowed the bill, which also provided massive tax breaks for the wealthy and large corporations, to advance to the Senate floor, where her fellow Republicans did the rest. President Donald Trump signed the bill into law last summer.
“Susan Collins is only bipartisan when it doesn’t matter,” declares A 30 second ad It was revealed by Blattner’s campaign on Wednesday, which highlighted the incumbent senator’s vote for OBBBA and smeared her reputation as a “moderate.”
The Republican law’s Medicaid cuts, totaling nearly $1 trillion, are expected to cost Maine hospitals $66 million annually In revenue and Stripping health coverage Of tens of thousands of residents, an expectation that Collins’s ads overlooked.
“Maine will have to make up the budget shortfall caused by this bill by ending coverage for families, eliminating essential health services, and cutting provider prices so dramatically that doctors and hospitals are forced to close their doors — especially in rural communities,” the advocacy group Families USA warned in a statement. analysis Of the republican budget procedures. “Hospitals such as Cary Medical Center and Northern Light R Gold Hospital in Aroostook County, Northern Light Maine Coast Hospital in Hancock County, and Calais Community Hospital in Washington County will be at greater financial risk of closing due to Medicaid reductions in the bill.”
“While more funding for rural health care is always welcome, political messaging around new funding cannot obscure the reality for states.”
Nationally, the effects of cuts to Medicaid — which include new work requirements and other bureaucratic barriers — are expected to be devastating for years to come. A track Protect Our Care shows more than 1,000 hospitals, clinics, wards and care homes “face closure or cuts” after the OBBBA passed.
Planned Parenthood of Maine was the largest network of reproductive health clinics in the state Had to terminate primary care services Late last year due to the Republican budget law.
“Behind every pin is a story,” Anne Shoop, a senior adviser for Protect Our Care, said Wednesday, referring to the marks on the group’s hospital closure tracker. “Whether it’s an expectant mother losing access to prenatal care after the nearest rural hospital had to close its maternity ward, or seniors driving long hours each way to get the care they used to have on the road, or people with disabilities facing gaps in care delivery that allow them to remain in their homes, these pins represent our neighbors, our parents, and our children. They deserve better than to have their health care destroyed to write a check to the wealthy.”
The health policy organization KFF has He said “It is highly unlikely that any state will receive more money from the Rural Health Fund than it will lose” from Medicaid cuts and other federal policy changes, calling into question Collins’ description of the RHTP funds as transformative for Maine’s rural health care system.
“The RHTP is like lending someone a bucket to catch the rain from a leaky roof,” says Mark Shaffer, an analyst at the Maine Center for Economic Policy. books last month. “It is too small to withstand what is falling and is removed before the roof can be repaired. The cruel irony is that while hospitals scramble to manage leaks, millions of Americans have simply been thrown out of the system entirely and left to fend for themselves. All of this was done to support tax cuts for the wealthy.”
A 30-second ad pro-Collins It was released earlier this year by One Nation, the GOP-aligned dark money group that has already Down $20 million On ads supporting the current Republican candidate – description $190 million in RHTP funds Awarded to the State of Maine for the first year of the program as an absolute lifesaver.
The problem is, who is it? He pointed outis that “no funds had actually been distributed at the time Collins’ announcement aired in mid-March 2026.”
“In fact, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services did not get full approval for the program’s budget until the end of March, weeks after the ad went live,” the Beacon noted. “State officials said during a Rural Health Fund Symposium on March 31 They are still working to finalize contracts and hire staff, and the funds are not expected to be distributed until later in 2026.”
On March 27th statementCollins took credit for preserving $190 million in federal funding for rural health in Maine, claiming it was “at risk” of being eliminated and reallocated by the Trump administration. (In early April, Maine Gov. Janet Mills’ office to reject Funding was absolutely in jeopardy.)
Earlier this week, KFF Health News I mentioned Maine is one of several states that has had to make changes to its plans for spending rural health funds as the Trump administration exercises “tight control” over the funds. One restriction imposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services — which is headed by Mehmet Oz — prevents states from Spend more than 15% Of the RHTP funds allocated for payments to rural hospitals and other providers for patient care.
Collins’ ads, which celebrate the program as an unambiguous victory for rural health care, include no mention of spending constraints — which are not in the language of the GOP budget bill — or the Trump administration’s grip on money.
“It was surprising to me, as a longtime observer of legislative officials, that GOP members of Congress who were cheerleaders for the RHTP as a fund for rural hospitals did not raise any substantive complaints because the Trump administration created such a strict funding limit affecting struggling rural hospitals in their districts,” Adam Searing, an assistant professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families, wrote in March.
“While more funding for rural health care is always welcome, political messaging around new funding cannot obscure the reality for states,” Searing wrote.
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