Democrats: McConnell fix for miners' health care inadequate

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats on Tuesday blasted a proposal by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to temporarily protect health care benefits for thousands of retired coal miners.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Manchin said retired miners deserve benefits that are now at risk amid the coal industry's steep decline and bankruptcies of several large mining companies.

McConnell said his plan would protect benefits for miners suffering from what he called the Obama administration's "war on coal," combined with "challenges within the energy market (that) have led to a dramatic increase in bankruptcies and lost coal jobs, exhausting the health benefits of thousands of coal workers and retirees."

While he recognizes the plan "will not solve the challenges of every coal miner or retiree in Kentucky, this provision will help address many of the health care needs of thousands of miners who fell victim to the steep downturn in coal production," McConnell said.