June 25, 2015

Manchin Statement on King v. Burwell Ruling

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) released the following statement on the Supreme Court’s ruling in the King v. Burwell case.
 
“I have always said that this law is not perfect, and that we need to repair it, not repeal it. After all, it is simply unacceptable to go back to the days when millions of Americans, including about 250,000 West Virginians, went without health insurance, or when we spent more than any other country in the world on health care but still ranked only 43rd in the world in health and wellness.
 
“The Affordable Care Act does some things well, including expanding access to preventative care,  protecting those with pre-existing conditions, and closing the Medicare Part D prescription drug donut hole, but the law has many flaws. That is why I have supported legislation to define a full-time work-week at forty hours instead of thirty, grandfather in existing plans that Americans are happy with, repeal the burdensome 1099 requirements on small businesses and fix a technical error that unduly harmed volunteer firefighters. We should be working together to identify which parts of the law are broken and need to be fixed. We may learn that some parts of the law can’t be repaired, and we should eliminate those parts entirely. 
 
“Now that the Supreme Court has ruled to uphold the Affordable Care Act, my sincere hope is that we can put the political divisiveness behind us and start working on the necessary improvements to make this law work better for all Americans.”

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