WASHINGTON – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), along with Senate Committee on Health, Education, and Labor Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA), and Senate Committee on Finance Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR), today announced that Senate Democrats will use their authority under the Congressional Review Act to force a vote on the Senate floor this week, as early as Wednesday, on a resolution to that would roll back the Trump administration’s rule on 1332 waivers, which the Trump Administration is using to sabotage Americans’ health care and undermine the critical pre-existing condition protections that more than 130 million Americans rely on. The Trump administration’s rule, if left in place, allows states to greenlight junk insurance plans that don’t fully protect people with pre-existing conditions, don’t cover essential health benefits like prescription drugs and maternity care, and raise out-of-pocket costs on many American families. The rule also lets states promote junk plans that can charge people more if they have a pre-existing condition or refuse to offer coverage for specific benefits. These plans would destabilize our insurance markets and could limit insurance access and raise costs for millions of Americans.

The vote on the resolution to overturn the Trump administration’s rule, which Democrats will force under the Congressional Review Act,  is one of the most significant policy changes the Senate will consider in Majority Leader McConnell’s legislative graveyard. Leader McConnell – long before the House impeachment inquiry – turned the Senate into a legislative graveyard for the priorities of the American people.

“Earlier this year, I was proud to lead the effort to introduce a CRA resolution to overturn the Trump Administration’s latest attempt to undermine our healthcare system,” said Senator Warner. “Today, I’m glad to announce that as a result of this effort, we’ll be able to give every Senator the opportunity to stand up for folks with pre-existing conditions. Many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have said that they support the Affordable Care Act protections that so many folks count on. Well, this vote is an opportunity for them to prove it. I urge my colleagues to stand with the millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions by voting to reverse this harmful effort by the Trump Administration.”

“This week, the Senate will hold one of the most significant votes of the year: we will finally see where Republicans stand on the Trump administration’s efforts to sabotage the health care of millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions. It is preposterous that the Trump administration claims to care about preserving pre-existing condition protections for millions of Americans while simultaneously peddling shoddy, substandard junk plans that undermine and weaken those very protections,” said Leader Schumer.  “I say to my Republican colleagues: stand up to the sabotage or stop swindling the American people with your empty promises of support for protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions. With this vote, the Senate Republicans who say they care about preserving pre-existing condition protections will have a chance to prove it to the American people. I urge my colleagues to step up to the plate and join Senate Democrats in supporting this critical resolution.”

“Democrats are putting an end to Republicans’ transparent health care charade and forcing every Senator to go on the record once and for all about whether they will fight for families’ health care and stand up for patients with pre-existing conditions—even if it means standing up to President Trump,” said Senator Murray. “Families and patients across the country are going to be watching very carefully and taking note of who votes to protect their health care, and who sides with President Trump and big insurance companies by voting to uphold his rule promoting junk plans and undermining protections for pre-existing conditions.”

“Americans want to know where their elected officials stand on protecting those with pre-existing conditions. This week they will have an answer,” said Senator Wyden. “The Senate will be voting on a Trump rule that throws the door open to discrimination, leaving those who need health care most at the mercy of unscrupulous insurance companies. I urge my colleagues to join Democrats and end this perversion of the law – people with pre-existing conditions are counting on it.”

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