Sen. Susan Collins (R., Maine) said she does not expect anything could change her mind on the Graham-Cassidy health care bill, which she opposes.
Collins joined CNN’s "State of the Union" Sunday morning to discuss the Obamacare repeal bill and the forthcoming review of it by the Congressional Budget Office, which is expected Monday. She said, however, that she does not anticipate any new information coming to light that would alter her view.
With Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.) and John McCain (Ariz.) already voicing their opposition to the legislation, a "no" vote on Collins would effectively doom the measure.
"It's very difficult for me to envision a scenario where I would end up voting for this bill," Collins said. "I have a number of serious reservations about it."
She listed impacts on Medicaid, costs, coverage, and protections for those with pre-existing conditions as her reasons for reluctance. Then host Jake Tapper asked about the ongoing debate about the bill that lawmakers have been having, and Collins said she had talked with numerous colleagues and even Vice President Mike Pence.
"I have had a lot of conversations over the weekend with numerous of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle," Collins said. "And I had a very lengthy conversation with the vice president yesterday. As always, with the vice president, he was very cordial, he made the case, he asked me to think more thoroughly about some issues."
"I told him about the various analyses of the impact that concerned me," Collins added. "He told me he would get me more numbers on the impact on the state of Maine and on the nation."
Collins did not commit completely to a "no" vote, however, preferring to let the CBO review process continue.
"I would like to see the Congressional Budget Office analysis, which is expected to come out tomorrow morning," Collins answered to a question about whether she would vote no. "I am worried about whether CBO has been given enough time to thoroughly analyze this bill, which has been a moving target."
Still, when Tapper discussed analyses by groups such as the Brookings Institute suggesting millions would lose coverage under Graham-Cassidy, Collins said she expected the CBO to only reinforce those studies. She went on to say she wanted to wait for the CBO to release their findings.
"I don't know whether the CBO analysis will have new information that would change where I'm inclined to head, but it is normally the way we proceed is to look at the CBO analysis," she said. "I'm going to know tomorrow morning whether or not CBO reinforces the concerns and reservations that I already have, based on the studies that you've cited, or whether CBO is going to say that they can’t come up with the kind of in-depth analysis the agency usually does."