Affordable Care Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. A ruling last Friday from a Federal judge in Texas has put the future of the Affordable Care Act in doubt. Every American should be aware of the fact that if the rule is upheld, the entire law will come crashing down, including health insurance for 20 million Americans, protections for 130 million Americans living with preexisting conditions, parental health coverage for millions of Americans under the age of 26, and essential benefits like maternity care, mental health treatment, preventive screenings, money for opioid treatment.

It would cause nothing short of chaos in our healthcare system and calamity for millions of American families if this court case were to prevail.

We don't believe the ruling should stand or will stand, but the danger it poses is so great that we can't simply hope for the right result. We should do something quickly to allow the Senate to be heard and to persuade the courts not to tear down the healthcare law.

Senator Manchin has a resolution to authorize the Senate legal counsel to defend the Affordable Care Act on behalf of the Senate. We intend to force a vote on his resolution as soon as possible.

Every Republican who claims to be for protections for preexisting conditions ought to vote aye on that resolution. It is the quickest and best way to ensure that the court case against the Affordable Care Act does not remove these protections and the rest of our healthcare law.

Legislation--some of my colleagues are seeking refuge: Well, we will just pass legislation to tweak this or tweak that. Legislation would be difficult and slow and, frankly, unnecessary at this stage. We know how hard it is to do any healthcare legislation in this body.

Unfortunately, a good number of Republicans and President Trump, by their actions, have shown they want to cut healthcare. We are never going to get a deal with Democrats in the Senate--or the House Democrats who are going to be in charge--on doing that.

Senator Manchin's proposal is the best and first way to go. I urge my friends on the other side--all who talked about preexisting conditions: Put your money where your mouth is and support Senator Manchin's solution. To Leader McConnell, who says he wants to protect preexisting conditions: Bring the Manchin resolution to the floor.

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