On July 1, 2025, Susan Collins voted against an amendment "To cut the price of prescription drugs under Medicare in half."
Collins voted to confirm Martin Makary to run the Food and Drug Administration, where layoffs cut the staff who inspect foreign drug factories, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose department dropped a planned $2 generic-drug list for Medicare. She also voted to confirm Mehmet Oz, whose agency ended a Part D premium program.
Susan Collins's Votes on Drug Prices and the Officials Who Regulate Drugs
- Collins Voted Against Cutting Medicare Drug Prices in Half in July 2025. On July 1, 2025, during the debate on H.R. 1, Susan Collins voted no on Senator Bernie Sanders's amendment "To cut the price of prescription drugs under Medicare in half and expand Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing," and all 53 Republican senators voted no. A majority of the public, 59%, is worried about affording prescription drugs, the largest share since KFF began asking in 2018.
- Collins Voted to Confirm Martin Makary, Whose FDA Lost Drug-Factory Inspectors, in March 2025. On March 25, 2025, Collins voted to confirm Martin Makary as commissioner of food and drugs. Weeks later, layoffs at his agency left the investigators who check the foreign factories that make many generic drugs saying "You can't inspect as many sites" (ProPublica, July 7, 2025).
- Collins Voted to Confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Whose Department Dropped $2 Generic Drugs for Medicare, in February 2025. On February 13, 2025, Collins voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of health and human services. On March 12, 2025, his department's Medicare innovation center said it would no longer develop the $2 Drug List model, which would have standardized cost sharing for certain generic drugs under Medicare Part D at $2.
- Collins Voted to Confirm Mehmet Oz, Whose Agency Ended a Drug-Plan Premium Program, in April 2025. On April 3, 2025, Collins voted to confirm Mehmet Oz to run the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. His agency ended a Part D premium demonstration, and for 2027 all 4 million PDP enrollees who paid no monthly premium in 2026 will pay one unless they qualify for low-income help, a change KFF calls "possibly related" to the demonstration's end.
What the Drug-Cost Decisions of Officials Susan Collins Confirmed Mean for Maine
- Medicare drug plans. Maine has 378,585 Medicare enrollees, 161,469 of them in traditional Medicare, where stand-alone drug plans face the 2027 premium change.
Frequently Asked Questions About Susan Collins on Prescription drugs
What is Susan Collins's record on prescription drugs under Trump?
Susan Collins voted on July 1, 2025 against an amendment to cut Medicare drug prices in half, and she voted to confirm FDA Commissioner Martin Makary, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Medicare chief Mehmet Oz. Under them, FDA investigators reported slower foreign drug-factory inspections and the planned $2 Medicare generic-drug list was dropped.
How did Susan Collins vote on the amendment to cut Medicare drug prices in half?
Susan Collins voted no on July 1, 2025 on Senator Bernie Sanders's amendment to cut Medicare drug prices in half and add dental, vision and hearing coverage, and every Republican senator voted no. The same amendment would have added routine dental care, which Medicare has not covered since its enactment in 1965, according to KFF.
Did Susan Collins vote to confirm FDA Commissioner Martin Makary?
Yes. Susan Collins voted to confirm Martin Makary on March 25, 2025. He resigned on May 12, 2026, and the agency's food deputy, Kyle Diamantas, became acting head.
Last updated: 2026-10-25