WHAT MAINERS ARE WATCHING AND READING: THANKS TO COLLINS, MAINERS "COULD SEE THEIR PREMIUMS SKYROCKET"

The following information was released by the Maine Democratic Party:

In case you missed it, Mainers are calling out Susan Collins for voting against a bill that would have saved health care for 50,000 Mainers who are at risk of seeing their insurance premiums increase by double digits when enhanced premium ACA tax credits expire.

WGME:

Transcript:

WGME Anchor: Mainers insured through the Affordable Care Act, could see their premiums skyrocket if congressional Republicans take away enhanced premium tax credits. The Maine Democratic Party and the group End Citizens United both say 50,000 Mainers could see a dramatic increase in premium costs if the credits aren't extended. Without those credits, the Congressional Budget Office says their premiums will increase by an average of 75%. A business owner and mother insured through the ACA marketplace since 2016 says if this goes through, it would be devastating for her family.

Maine mother and small business owner Briana Bononcini: This is just kind of unconscionable to me to think about eliminating the earned tax credit to provide billionaires with tax breaks when you know there are 116,000 Mainers who should have health care.

WGME Anchor: She says if premiums go up thousands of dollars, she would not be able to afford health insurance. End Citizens United called [out] Senator Susan Collins for voting against a Democrat-backed bill last week that would extend those enhanced ACA credits.

Maine Morning Star: Groups pressure Collins to extend health care subsidies. Collins says not yet.

By Emma Davis

September 26, 2025

In September, the Maine Bureau of Insurance announced the finalized 2026 health insurance rates, with an average increase of 23.9% for the individual market and 17.5% for the small employer market.

Thousands of Mainers could see their monthly health premiums increase by as much as 117% if the subsidies are not extended.

"[...] the reality is that [Collins] could have stopped this from occurring and she chose not to," Bononcini said.

State Sen. Mike Tipping (D-Penobscot) spoke at that event about broader implications of losing the credit, which he described as an existential threat to the entire health care system in the state.

Pointing to strides the state Legislature has made to expand health care coverage, such as creating a state-based insurance marketplace and reducing medical debt, Tipping said "these federal changes undo all of that work."

"Fewer Mainers will have health coverage, and when they're sick, they're going to go to the emergency room, which is the most expensive form of health care," he said. "Mainers will pay for this in the form of increased premiums in their private insurance, and it's going to hit Maine small business owners first and hardest."