WVAHC Release:
Manchin pledges to vote against Affordable Care Act repeal without replacement details
CHARLESTON, W.VA — West Virginians for Affordable Health Care Executive Director Renate Pore today thanks U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., for standing up for 210,000 West Virginians who could lose coverage under a proposed repeal.
Sen. Manchin has called for members of Congress to work together to fix problems with the Affordable Care Act rather than trashing a law that has done so much good.
“They’re about ready to throw the baby out with the bath water, and that just doesn’t make any sense to me at all,” Manchin said of Republican efforts to repeal the landmark health care reform.
Renate Pore, executive director of West Virginians for Affordable Health Care, praised Manchin’s stance.
“We are so pleased to see Joe Manchin standing up for all the people who now have health insurance, and who would lose it if the Affordable Care Act is repealed,” Pore said. “West Virginians need a champion in Congress to protect their access to health care, and we’re proud that Sen. Manchin is stepping up.”
Manchin vowed to vote against any repeal that doesn’t include a viable replacement. “I have said simply, I won’t vote to get rid of it until I see the replacement,” Manchin said.
Manchin said West Virginians — who voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump, who promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act — may not realize how much they’ve gained from the law. His office said tens of thousands of West Virginians would lose insurance under a repeal, and the state would lose $840 million in federal money to provide health care for low-income families.
“They don’t know what they have or how they got it. I will tell you this: You repeal it and take it away, they will know who took it away,” Manchin said.
As many as 210,000 West Virginians are able to afford health insurance because of the Affordable Care Act. Republican members of Congress have proposed repealing the act, but have no replacement legislation that would continue coverage for 20 million Americans who now have insurance.