On Maine’s Republican Senator from today’s Lewiston Sun Journal:
Snowe is one of six senators — three Democrats and three Republicans — who have worked methodically during all-day, closed-door meetings for weeks on what they hope will be a widely supported compromise bill to expand access to health care and control costs.
“We don’t want to create an exodus from employer coverage,” Snowe said. “We won’t mandate the kind of coverage or that (employers) have to provide coverage. If you have coverage that you like, we want you to be able to keep it.”
She said she had gotten advice from many Mainers on how to best develop a health care policy that provides universal, affordable coverage. That advice comes from a range of people, from constituents calling her office to family members trying to bend her ear.
“It’s helpful to me and I bring that input into meetings,” Snowe said. “After all of this, you have to evaluate, is this the right and best policy for America? That’s the crucial question, and it weighs heavily on all of us because we have tremendous regard for the value for this reform.”
From today’s Globe story on health reform ad barrage:
In New England, Maine voters are likely to be targeted by liberal groups because its two senators – particularly Olympia Snowe, a key negotiator in the healthcare discussions – are poised to play a crucial role in deciding the fate of the legislation.
“It’s really up to Senator Snowe whether we will have health insurance reform . . . or whether premiums keep going up and more and more Americans lose healthcare,’’ says one radio ad that began running this week. In New Hampshire, Republicans have targeted Representative Carol Shea Porter as vulnerable.
Boston Health News 