Democrats acknowledge there are issues with the Affordable Care Act but they haven’t been invited to the table to help fix the country’s healthcare system, Sen. Joe Manchin said.
The centrist Democrat from West Virginia said the only thing preventing Democrats from being a willing partner in the healthcare reform process is Republicans giving them the cold shoulder. If Republicans were to take repealing the law off the table and focused on repairing, Democrats are willing to talk, he said.
“If they can get rid of the word ‘repeal,’ Democrats can sit down,” he said.
He added, “We know this bill needs to be fixed. There’s not a Democrat that doesn’t realize we need to work on the private market.”
The House GOP passed the American Health Care Act last week, a bill that repeals and replaces much of the Affordable Care Act.
Republicans have touted the bill as containing a tax cut, allowing people more choice in their health insurance purchases and sending more power back to the states. Democrats call it a heartless bill that will kick millions of people off their health insurance by making it unaffordable and have criticized weakened protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
Manchin said the focus on repealing Obamacare shows a lack of imagination on the part of Republicans.
“We’re not trying anything,” he said. “We’re just throwing the baby out with the bathwater in order to get a tax break.”
Manchin said a healthcare reform bill must have greater education on what to do with health insurance once it’s received.
“We have given 20 million people healthcare that they never had, never bought, don’t know the value,” he said. “We never gave them one word of instruction on how to use it.”
