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WHEELING -- Sen. Joe Manchin will reintroduce a resolution aimed at preserving insurance protections for Americans with pre-existing medical conditions.
At a press conference Tuesday in Washington, Manchin, D-W.Va., explained the measure. He said it would direct Senate's legal team to intervene in a lawsuit defending the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, while focusing on protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions.
A federal court in Texas last month declared the ACA unconstitutional based on its individual mandate clause requiring every American to have medical coverage. The Trump administration, opposed to the health care plan enacted under former President Barack Obama, has directed its attorneys not to defend the ACA in court.
"All we have asked for in this resolution is to allow us to use our legal staff to intervene in this horrible, horrible lawsuit," Manchin said.
If the federal court's decision stands, 20 million Americans will be left without health insurance coverage, according to information provided by Manchin's office. In addition, he said, 133 million Americans and 800,000 West Virginians with a pre-existing condition will be at risk of losing their access to health coverage.
Manchin criticized West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, his Republican opponent in the 2016 election, for taking the lead in legal challenges to the health care law.
"He's still defending it (the lawsuit) to the hilt, thinking it is the right thing to do -- to throw this many people off," he said. "He thinks he can resurrect something out of it that will cover and protect these people. They've tried everything."
The most recent proposal from Republicans in Congress was a plan to disallow insurance companies from denying a person insurance coverage based on past medical history. However, the insurance companies would have had the right to refuse to cover any claims pertaining to a pre-existing condition, according to Manchin.
"Basically, it says I'm going to insure your car for everything except a collision on the right hand side, because you have been hit there before," he said. "For the person with cancer, they would insure them for anything but the cancer.
"It was so asinine they pulled it themselves before they introduced it, so there is no plan."
Morrisey denies he and Republicans are seeking to take away the pre-existing conditions clause guaranteed Americans under the ACA.
"West Virginia pocketbooks are hemorrhaging under the ever increasing cost of Obamacare, and Sen. Manchin offers nothing more than scare tactics." he said. "He and his liberal elites embrace skyrocketing health care premiums and the broken promises of Obamacare -- chief among them the promise of a vibrant, competitive health care marketplace with affordable premiums.
"No one is trying to stop protecting people with pre-existing conditions. Period. Instead, our lawsuit seeks to protect the thousands of West Virginians suffering the financial hardships caused by Obamacare and defend the basic, constitutional premise that no American should be forced to buy health insurance against their will."
In West Virginia alone, premiums for hard-working families rose more than 160 percent over the past four years, according to Morrisey.
"This is not sustainable on any level," he said. "We deserve much better."
Among those standing with Manchin Tuesday in Washington and co-sponsoring his resolution were Democrat senators Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania , Patty Murray of Washington, Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
Rosen, a freshman senator, introduced the same resolution while a member of the House. It was re-introduced and passed in the House this month.
"I'm proud to join Senator Manchin in introducing the same resolution I championed in the House," she said. "Without these critical protections, we risk going back to the days when big insurance companies could deny insurance coverage based on a pre-existing condition.
"We cannot let the Trump Administration move to dismantle our health care system. I know just how important this issue is for Nevada's hardworking families and I'm prepared to keep fighting to protect their health care."
Schumer called the federal court's decision "bizarre and dreadful."
"And if the ruling is ultimately upheld it would spell disaster for hundreds of millions of Americans and throw our health care system into utter chaos," he said. "Since the Trump administration has shamefully refused to defend the healthcare law in court, it is incumbent on us Democrats to act accordingly. Senator Manchin's resolution is the right prescription. Many of my Republican friends just campaigned on promising to protect Americans with pre-existing conditions. Now is the time for them to put their money where their mouth is."