In the News

GREENFIELD -- U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, rejected President Donald Trump's Wednesday suggestion that Republicans -- not Democrats -- will protect health insurance coverage for individuals with pre-existing conditions.

Neal, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, said he'd glad Trump "finally came around" to supporting protections for those with pre-existing conditions -- something Republicans have sought to roll back as part of their efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. 

The congressman, who led Democrats' opposition to the failed GOP health care bill, however, questioned Trump's sincerity to maintaining those protections, following an event in Greenfield.

"That is entirely contrary to the court case that the Trump administration has brought in Texas," he said in an interview. "Seems to me, that (claim) has all the credibility of having a 10 percent tax cut next week when Congress is not in session."

Trump, in urging support for GOP candidates ahead of the November midterm elections, offered that "Republicans will totally protect people with pre-existing conditions."

"Democrats will not! Vote Republican," he tweeted.

The Trump administration, however, said in a June court document that it would no longer defend the key parts of the health care law, known as Obamacare, that require people to have health insurance and guarantee access to health insurance regardless of any medical conditions -- a move which drew criticism from Neal and other Massachusetts Democrats.

The announcement came as part of a legal challenge Texas and other GOP-led states filed to strike down the entire health care law after Congress repealed an ACA provision, which had subjected those who failed to obtain health insurance to a fine.

The Trump administration, however, said in a June court document that it would no longer defend the key parts of the health care law, known as Obamacare, that require people to have health insurance and guarantee access to health insurance regardless of any medical conditions -- a move which drew criticism from Neal and other Massachusetts Democrats.

The announcement came as part of a legal challenge Texas and other GOP-led states filed to strike down the entire health care law after Congress repealed an ACA provision, which had subjected those who failed to obtain health insurance to a fine.

The administration said it agreed that the law's individual mandate is unconstitutional without the fine and that language protecting those with medical conditions from being denied coverage or charged higher premiums should also be struck down, the Associated Press reported.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan, said while the administration has traditionally defended the constitutionality of such provisions, he has decided "this is a rare care where the proper course is to forgo defense."