We have been saying Collins was a no on this bill for a long time now, but we are not beginning to see the Senator herself more or less confirm this.

In today’s Washington Examiner, Collins told Byron York that she believes this bill is simply too flawed for her to support, and her continued activity on the bill is more a matter of trying to improve it as much as possible, even if it won’t ultimately get her support.

Collins:

“I don’t see voting for the current bill that is on the floor, even with the improvements that have been made,” Collins said. “I’m very leery of the impact of nearly $500 billion in Medicare cuts, particularly the cuts in home health care, which are completely counterproductive to the goal of lowering costs.”

York also speculated that Snowe is (as we said last week) increasingly likely to vote no on the Senate bill as well, although there is also speculation Democrats continue to court Snowe, specifically about the so called “trigger” compromise.

The power players in the Senate are now Joe Lieberman and Senator Ben Nelson – both of which have threatened to filibuster the current version of the reform bill.  There are now rumors that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is giving in to Lieberman’s demands, and may also be threatening Nelson (or bribing him – depending on who you talk to) to secure his support.

But in the end, there appears to be virtually no scenario in which Maine’s junior Senator would support the healthcare reform bill.