WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, on Wednesday made the following statement after the Senate Democrats forced a vote under the Congressional Review Act to rollback a Trump administration rule to the Affordable Care Act’s Section 1332 waiver policy that would allow states to promote short-term “junk insurance plans” that do not have to cover essential health benefits and can deny people coverage for having a pre-existing condition.

“My Republican friends say they want to protect people with pre-existing conditions, but their actions today say the opposite. By voting down this CRA, Senate Republicans sided with the Trump administration’s continued efforts to sabotage our health care system and deny people with pre-existing conditions access to the care they need. That’s shameful,” said Murphy. “This administration is using every tool it can to undermine the Affordable Care Act and weaken the health care system. While Republicans continue to back the administration’s plans to make access to good health care harder for Americans, I will continue to fight to protect those with pre-existing conditions.”

The Senate voted on S.J.Res.52, a resolution of disapproval to nullify the Trump administration’s rule that would harm individuals with preexisting conditions through the proliferation of “junk plans” – short-term insurance plans that can exclude coverage for essential benefits and provide no protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions. The resolution failed to pass by a vote of 43-52. On Tuesday, Murphy joined Senators Schumer and Warner to talk about the importance of this vote to protect pre-existing conditions.

In June, Murphy offered an amendment to the Lower Health Care Costs Act during the HELP Committee markup requesting that the Trump administration provide information for states and Congress to better understand the potential consequences of repealing the ACA. Murphy also published an op-ed in the Hartford Courant on this in July and in Modern Healthcare  last month. 

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