CNN "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees" - Affordable Care Act Implementation

Interview

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BLITZER: Yes. Enormous problems right now all around. John, thanks very much.

The fix that President Obama announced today falls short of what some members of his own party are pressing for including Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a red state Democrat. He joins us tonight.

Senator, what's your reaction to the president's announcement today, this temporary fix that would attempt to save at least some of those insurance policies that were cancelled because they didn't meet the overall standards of the affordable care act? Does the president go far enough?

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D), WEST VIRGINIA: Well, first of all, it's a step in the right direction. I'm very appreciative of that. They've acknowledged it. You know, we got to keep our promise to the people, to our constituents, to the American people that were made to them. I believe, like they did, if I had a policy, I was already insured no matter how good or bad, you may think it had been or is, I could keep it so I wanted it.

BLITZER: You want to just delay the whole thing for a year?

MANCHIN: I've said in my bill that there'll be no fine and no crime until January 1, 2015. But the bill still goes effect right now. We're working throughout it. We're trying to get the markets right. We're trying to get the glitches out of it. And that's what I'm thinking. A transition year is what's needed until January of 2015.

BLITZER: We understand, Senator, the White House has asked that any new legislation, and you have some new legislation, they be held back for now to give the president's new administrative fix some time to work. Are you willing to wait? Should Congress wait?

MANCHIN: Well, I think, you know, Congress has been pretty patient, if you will. From waiting now to see what works and what doesn't work, we've got people hitting deadlines. People believe they're going to be committing a crime or be fined if they don't buy a product they couldn't get on because of the glitches.

If the president and the administration will look -- those of us who are trying to work and fix things and be constructive, not destructive. That's what they need to be looking for and we're saying, listen, the transition here, we need to work through it. The law needs to go into effect, work through it, see if we can get the industry, insurance industry working with us, not against us.

If that policy is richer than what we can afford, then we need to look at some things differently like some of the people that got cancellations. They got -- they bought insurance policies that this administration or this bill believes inferior. They didn't believe it was inferior. They believed it was what they could afford and it gave them some protection.

BLITZER: One final question, Senator. You're a former governor of West Virginia. If you had -- your lifetime achievement, the greatest achievement of your administration and you have three years to get it ready, it turns out the rollout, the Web site and bunch of other stuff, such a disaster, would you have fired someone?

MANCHIN: Just sacrificially throwing people out, you know, that's not going to fix it right now. You need people who are committed and dedicated to getting the right people -- to fix -- they'll fix the glitches, Wolf. Do we have the product that people want? Do we have the product they think there's value in?

That's what hasn't been sold yet. And if that needs to be some tweaking, that's the one-year transition would work absolutely unbelievable. I believe give us that breathing time to make sure that you're selling me a product that I like, that I think is good and will help me and my family and I'll want to buy it, I want it.

BLITZER: Senator Manchin, thanks very much for joining us.

MANCHIN: Thank you, Wolf.

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