Washington: The US House of Representatives voted on Friday to take initial steps toward repealing Obamacare, following Thursday's Senate vote on the issue.

House representatives voted 227-198 for a resolution to determine the congressional budget for the 2017 fiscal year and the appropriate budgetary levels for the 2016-2018 fiscal years, allowing the Republicans to adjust budgets for programs under Obamacare, a legislation pushed through in 2010 to expand the coverage of health insurance by the Barack Obama administration, Xinhua reported.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said the measure passed would launch a "thoughtful, step-by-step process" toward replacing Obamacare.

The Republican Party avoided voting directly to repeal Obamacare, which demands a super majority of 60 votes in Senate to pass, but chose to vote on a budget adjustment resolution, which only requires a simple majority. The Senate voted 51-49 on Thursday in favour of the resolution.

The Republican Party holds 52 seats in the 100-seat Senate and 241 seats in the 435-seat House of Representatives.

In both chambers of Congress, some Republicans were reluctant to vote along party lines as they believe their party should agree on a plan before moving to overturn the current legislation.

Obamacare, officially the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, has drawn criticism due to a rise in premiums. US President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to replace it after taking office. </s> WASHINGTON, D.C. (CBS) — The Senate voted Tuesday in favor on a motion to proceed with debate on the Senate’s health care plan to effectively repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. On Tuesday night, the Senate Republican plan to repeal and replace the health care law failed on a procedural vote.

The Senate adjourned but will return on Wednesday morning at 9:30 a.m. to resume debate and consideration of amendments to the Republican health care bill. The next series of votes is expected at 11:30 a.m. Eastern.
• After 50 “no” votes on the motion to proceed to debate (including all Democrats plus two Republicans) and 50 “yes” votes from Republicans, Vice President Mike Pence broke the tie
• Sen. John McCain was welcomed back to Senate with standing ovation, votes “yes”
• Senate GOP’s plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, known as BCRA, fails in procedural vote, at about 9:30 p.m.

The first vote was intended to open debate on the American Health Care Act (AHCA), the GOP-sponsored Obamacare replacement plan that passed the House of Representatives in May.

Numerous amendments will now be offered that will dramatically change the nature of the House-passed legislation. Some amendments include a proposal to repeal and replace Obamacare, while another could simply repeal the 2010 health care law in its entirety and provide Congress with two years to figure out a replacement health care plan.

President Donald Trump has publicly pressured Republicans to vote to proceed and find a way to replace Obamacare.

Read this story on the CBS News website for the full list of Tuesday updates while Senate was in session. </s> The House of Representatives is slated to vote on a new health care bill Thursday that will repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), just six weeks after an earlier GOP bill was abandoned amid concerns it would not pass in the House.

The vote is expected to take place early Thursday afternoon, according to the Associated Press. Republicans can afford to lose 22 votes for the bill to pass.

The bill has been controversial, largely because of debate on whether people with pre-existing conditions would be covered, as they are under the ACA. In response, lawmakers have amended it to cover those with pre-existing conditions . But as the AP notes, experts worry the bill would allow insurers to set premiums based on people's health — meaning those who are sick would most likely have to pay more.

Still, some Republicans are optimistic it will pass, as House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters on Wednesday. </s> The American Health Care Act, the measure intended to replace Obamacare, has been the target of criticism aplenty since its introduction, in part because of predictions that it would disproportionately hurt the poor and elderly in Denver and beyond. This reception, not to mention President Donald Trump's threat to unseat any Republican who votes against the bill, has put GOP members of Congress in a difficult position, and those from Colorado have reacted with varying degrees of support and obfuscation.

On Facebook, Representative Mike Coffman posted the photo at the top of this post showing him reading the measure along with a link to a House GOP page that states, "JOIN THE FIGHT: The American Health Care Act is a historic step towards making America great again. But we need your help to get it over the finish line." Also highlighted is the hashtag #passthebill.

During a subsequent radio interview with Craig Silverman, Coffman said he was leaning toward voting for the AHCA in its current form. But following a Congressional Budget Office report that estimated 24 million people would lose their insurance by 2024 under the legislation, his office put out a more cautious statement: "Rep. Coffman is reviewing the CBO analysis to see what areas of the American Health Care Act need adjustments before a final bill is enacted. But he is encouraged that the bill leaves in place the consumer protections, such as preexisting conditions and allowing dependents to remain on their parents' plan until age 26, and he believes the AHCA will face major changes before it's signed into law."

Representative Ken Buck struck a similar note in a Facebook post that slaps Obamacare but implies that the ACHA's language needs some adjustment. The item reads: "With Obamacare plan sign-ups down from last year, insurers pulling out of the market, and prices soaring for many people in the Fourth Congressional District, our job of replacing Obamacare with something better is more pressing than ever. I'm fighting to ensure the final replacement plan makes coverage more affordable and accessible."

Another longtime Obamacare critic, Representative Scott Tipton, has also resisted the temptation to simply endorse the ACHA as originally written, saying that he's "pro-repeal of the ACA [the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare's formal name], but that doesn’t mean I’m going to vote for just any replacement bill.”

For an update on these positions, we reached out yesterday, March 22, to spokespersons for Coffman, Buck and Tipton — and at this writing, reps representing Buck and Tipton have gotten back to us.

Buck spokesperson Kyle Huwa's response, delivered via e-mail, is brief and to the point: "Congressman Buck is still weighing all options on the bill."

Tipton spokesperson Liz Payne offers more details. According to her, Tipton "has not come out with a position yet" on the American Health Care Act. She adds that "he had some concerns about the bill in its original form. I know one piece he was concerned about was seniors who may not yet be eligible for Medicare but don't qualify for Medicaid and don't have insurance through an employer. He wants to make sure those people have access to health care, and on Monday, a change was made in the bill to create a fund to help states provide assistance to that category of seniors. But right now, he and his team are still reviewing the changes to see if they fully address the problems he had with the bill through the whole repeal-and-replace process."

If Tipton, Buck and Coffman join the Republican majority in offering a thumbs-up for the ACHA, which is expected to hit the House floor today, March 23, the measure would next head to the U.S. Senate, where Colorado Senator Cory Gardner will have to choose which direction to go in the wake of mixed signals he's sent on the subject.

Along with three other Republican senators (Ohio's Rob Portman, West Virginia's Shelley Moore Capito and Arkansas' Lisa Murkowski), Gardner signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that suggests the ACHA's approach to Medicaid leaves a lot to be desired.

As you know, Medicaid covers more than 72 million Americans and is the core of the health care safety net for individuals across the country. The Affordable Care Act destabilized the private insurance market and created an unsustainable path for both the states and the federal government in Medicaid. While we support efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and make structural reforms to the Medicaid program, we are concerned that the February 10th draft proposal from the House of Representatives does not provide stability and certainty for individuals and families in Medicaid expansion programs or the necessary flexibility for states. We are concerned that any poorly implemented or poorly timed change in the current funding structure in Medicaid could result in a reduction in access to life-saving health care services. The Medicaid population includes a wide range of beneficiaries, many of which cycle on and off Medicaid due to frequent changes in income, family situations, and living environments. The Department of Health and Human Services reports that nearly one-third of individuals covered under the Medicaid expansion have a mental health or substance use disorder. As the largest payer of mental health and substance use services in the United States, it is critical that any health care replacement provide states with a stable transition period and the opportunity to gradually phase-in their populations to any new Medicaid financing structure. We believe Medicaid needs to be reformed, but reform should not come at the cost of disruption in access to health care for our country’s most vulnerable and sickest individuals. Any changes made to how Medicaid is financed through the state and federal governments should be coupled with significant new flexibility so they can efficiently and effectively manage their Medicaid programs to best meet their own needs. We also believe a gradual transition is needed to ensure states have the time to successfully implement these new changes. The Affordable Care Act is not working for states or the federal government and must be repealed and replaced with a plan that reforms Medicaid and protects individuals and their families over the long term. However, the February 10th draft proposal from the House does not meet the test of stability for individuals currently enrolled in the program and we will not support a plan that does not include stability for Medicaid expansion populations or flexibility for states.

In a more recent Facebook post, however, Gardner framed a meeting with representatives from the Colorado Hospital Association in the context of evil Obamacare, not the AHCA's weaknesses.

"Obamacare’s failures hit our rural Colorado communities hard, with premiums rising by more than 25 percent on some parts of the Western Slope," reads the text accompanying the second photo seen here. "I’m glad I got the chance to sit down today and partake in a rural healthcare roundtable with the Colorado Hospital Association to discuss how we can provide access to affordable health insurance to our rural communities."

On March 22, we also contacted Gardner's office to see if he's firmed up his stance on the ACHA. Thus far, radio silence. </s> WASHINGTON (CBSMiami) – Senators will be back on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to continue debate on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.

Tuesday night, by a vote of 43-57 the Senate Republican plan to repeal and replace the health care law failed on a procedural vote.

The Senate adjourned but will return at 9:30 a.m. to resume debate and consideration of amendments to a Republican health care bill. The next series of votes is expected at 11:30 a.m.

The vote on that bill took place just hours after they decided, by the narrowest margin possible, to proceed with debates on health care.

“We’re now one step closer to liberating our citizens from this Obamacare nightmare,” said President Donald Trump during a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

Wednesday’s debate will focus on the American Health Care Act (AHCA), the GOP plan that passed the House of Representatives in May.

Numerous amendments will now be offered that will dramatically change the nature of the House-passed legislation. Some amendments include a proposal to repeal and replace Obamacare, while another could simply repeal the 2010 health care law in its entirety and provide Congress with two years to figure out a replacement health care plan.

Nine Republicans came out against Tuesday night’s amendment in the first of what is expected to be many versions of the bill headed to the Senate floor this week.

“Anyone who thinks this is over is sadly mistaken, there are many many Republicans who don’t like this bill who don’t want to vote for it, they’re under enormous pressure to vote for it,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY.

The House plan, which was rejected by the Senate, is the one that, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, would’ve resulted in 22 million fewer people with health care coverage by 2026. </s> US Congress approves first step for repealing Obamacare

The US House of Representatives on Friday joined the Senate in passing a critical measure that marks the first major step toward repealing outgoing President Barack Obama’s landmark but controversial health care reforms.

The House’s party-line vote of 227 to 198 approved a budget blueprint which provides Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress, with a framework for dismantling the Affordable Care Act.

But just a week before Republican President-elect Donald Trump is sworn into office, a sense of urgency has swept over Washington about what his party will put forward as a replacement for the health care law, with Democrats warning of disastrous consequences should Republicans act too hastily.

“This resolution essentially fires the starting pistol… for repealing Obamacare,” said Representative Bill Johnson, an Ohio Republican, shortly before the vote.

“This is a critical first step to deliver relief to Americans struggling under this law,” House Speaker Paul Ryan told fellow members, describing as a “rescue mission” the latest effort to unwind Obamacare.

“This experiment has failed,” and “we have to step in before things get worse.”

The Senate passed the budget resolution on Thursday. The measure received no Democratic support in either the Senate or the House, highlighting the intensely partisan fight that lies ahead.

The budget resolution provides Republicans with a powerful tool, called reconciliation, which allows repeal legislation to proceed through the 100-member Senate protected from filibuster blocking tactics and requiring just a simple majority for passage, instead of a higher 60-vote threshold.

Trump made repeal of the law, a key achievement of Obama’s Democratic administration, a central plank of his insurgent campaign.

This week he said the Republicans ought to repeal and replace Obamacare “simultaneously.”

Unwinding Obamacare will be a monumental task. Republican leadership is moving carefully, stressing it does not want to “pull the rug out from anyone” who might lose their coverage if there is no replacement plan on offer.

The White House, which claims Obamacare as a major success, says more than 20 million Americans have gained health insurance through the law.

Democrats warned that scrapping the Affordable Care Act, which forbids insurance companies from denying health care due to pre-existing conditions and allows children to stay on their parents’ plans until age 26, could result in millions of Americans losing coverage.

“Every American will be affected by this vote,” said number-two House Democrat Steny Hoyer, citing a faster hike in premiums than under current law, and a likely spike in drug costs.

Nine Republicans voted against the resolution in the House, including moderate Charlie Dent, who expressed “reservations” about repealing parts of Obamacare without a credible replacement at the ready.

“The repeal plan needs to be fully developed and better articulated,” he told CNN.

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Also, Like us on facebook </s> WASHINGTON - The Senate voted Wednesday to defeat a bill that would have repealed Obamacare within two years without any immediate plan to replace the sweeping health care law.

Senators voted 45-55 in favor of the bill, falling six votes short of the 51 needed to pass it. Seven Republicans voted against it: John McCain of Arizona, Dean Heller of Nevada, Susan Collins of Maine, Rob Portman of Ohio, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia.

The vote comes on the second day of a 20-hour Senate debate on health care as Republican leaders scramble to win enough votes from their own members to pass something to replace the Affordable Care Act. The Senate began its session Wednesday morning with about 17 hours left in the debate.

Here's a look at where things stand now:

What are they voting on today?

The big vote so far was the failed attempt to pass the amendment by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., to repeal the Affordable Care Act within two years, which would have given lawmakers time to come up with a replacement plan before the law expired. The proposal is the same as one passed by Congress in 2015, which was vetoed by former president Barack Obama. Collins is the only Republican senator who voted against the bill both times.

With a Republican president in the White House, GOP leaders tried again. Paul and other conservatives have led the push for a complete repeal of Obamacare. But there has been a lot of hesitation among Republicans for "repeal" without a plan for "replace."

What have they already voted on?

On Tuesday, senators voted 50-50 to begin debate on a health care bill. Vice President Pence had to come to the Senate chamber to break the tie and allow debate to start.

After that, the biggest news came Tuesday night when senators defeated a Republican bill, on a vote of 43-57, to replace Obamacare. Nine Republican senators voted against the legislation, which was drafted by Senate Republican leaders.

It included a proposal by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to allow insurers to sell bare-bones health care plans that don't cover maternity care and other major benefits as long as the companies also sell plans that include a full range of benefits.

The defeated plan also included a proposal by Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, to provide $100 billion in aid to help low-income Americans pay their medical bills after they lose Medicaid coverage as a result of the Senate health care bill.

What are Democrats doing?

The Democrats have been voting against the Republican bills to repeal and replace Obamacare. They also are using procedural tactics to try to slow down the debate process.

For example, Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., will offer a motion Wednesday to send health care legislation back to the Finance Committee for consideration. On Tuesday, they objected to the usual Senate practice of waiving the reading of the bill, so Senate clerks had to spend several hours reading the leadership replacement bill aloud.

What happens after the 20 hours of debate are over?

A vote-a-rama will begin on dozens of amendments offered by senators of both parties. That is expected to start Thursday.

Do Republican Senate leaders have an endgame?

With the defeat of the comprehensive replacement bill and the "clean" repeal bill, GOP leaders are now looking to pass a "skinny repeal" bill that would make limited changes to Obamacare. It would likely strip out the law's tax on medical devices and its requirements for individuals to buy health insurance and large employers to provide coverage for their workers.

If that plan passes the Senate, it would most likely go to a conference committee of House and Senate negotiators who would try to work out a final compromise.

Democrats say Senate leaders just want to pass anything they can take to this conference committee, where the real bill would be crafted.

"It's becoming clearer that, in the end, the majority leader might push a much scaled-back version of repeal in the hopes of passing something, so-called skinny repeal, just to get to conference," Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday. "But my colleagues, make no mistake about it, skinny repeal is equal to full repeal. It's a Trojan horse designed to get the House and Senate into conference where the hard-right flank of the Republican Caucus, the (House) Freedom Caucus, will demand full repeal or something very close to it."

Why has it been so difficult for the Senate to reach agreement?

Republican leaders have been trying to please the conservative and moderate wings of their party, and they have so far failed to win the support of both groups.

Conservatives generally want a complete repeal of Obamacare's taxes and regulations while moderates worry that ending the law's Medicaid expansion will leave struggling Americans with no way to afford medical coverage.

"Ultimately, we want to get legislation to finally end the failed Obamacare status quo through Congress and to the president’s desk for his signature," Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Wednesday in a speech on the Senate floor. "This certainly won’t be easy. Hardly anything in this process has been." </s> The United States House of Representatives on Friday passed a budget measure that begins the process to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act 2010, better known as Obamacare, Reuters reported. The House voted 227-198 to draft a legislation by January 27 that will revoke the healthcare law enacted by President Barack Obama nearly seven years ago.

The US Senate had passed the resolution by a 58-51 vote on Thursday. Republicans hold a majority in both Houses of the US Congress. No Democrat supported Friday’s move, whereas nine Republicans voted against it.

The healthcare law was passed to expand insurance coverage to some 20 million people. It directed insurers to not turn down those who were already ill and asked them to slash medical charges to the sick and elderly. In the last few years, the US Congress has voted more than 60 times to repeal or alter Obamacare.

The campaign to have Obamacare dismantled has been met with concerns as Republicans are not ready with replacement provisions yet. House Speaker Paul Ryan said, “We have to step in before things get worse. This is nothing short of a rescue mission.”

US President-elect Donald Trump on Friday praised the vote on Twitter, saying, “The ‘Unaffordable’ Care Act will soon be history!” He had vowed to have the Act repealed during his presidential campaign. </s> House of Representatives passed legislation for Republicans to proceed with ‘budget reconciliation’ to end key provisions of Obama’s signature healthcare law

Republicans ready to dismantle Obamacare amid replacement concerns Read more

Congress has set the stage for repeal of the Affordable Care Act, approving a preliminary measure that will allow Republicans to dismantle Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law.

The legislation passed in the House of Representatives 227-198, with nine Republicans joining a united Democratic party in voting against. The narrowly Senate passed the same budget measure in the early hours of Thursday morning.

“This is a critical first step toward delivering relief to Americans who are struggling under this law,” said the House speaker, Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, in a rare floor speech.

The move allows Republicans to use a procedure known as “budget reconciliation” to tear up key provisions of the law. Republican leaders have said they intend to “repeal” and “replace” Obamacare simultaneously to avoid disruptions in healthcare coverage, but they have yet to agree on a replacement plan.

In the days leading up to the voting, a growing number of Republicans began voicing concerns about repealing the law without first agreeing on an alternative. Democrats seized on these divisions and called on Republicans to reveal their plan before gutting the law, which covers an estimated 20 million Americans.



The Republicans who are not totally enthusiastic about repealing Obamacare Read more

“Republicans talk about they’re going to ‘repeal and replace’ – interesting alliteratively, but not realistic,” said House minority leader Nancy Pelosi of California, who led the passage of the law in 2009 and 2010. “For six years they have had a chance to propose an alternative. We see nothing.”

Republicans have been trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act since its passage in 2010.

With both chambers of Congress and the White House now in their grasp, they finally have the opportunity to do so. Before the House vote on Friday, Trump tweeted: “The “Unaffordable” Care Act will soon be history!” But they have yet to agree on a replacement plan.

On Thursday night Ryan said during a CNN town hall meeting that Congress would draft a replacement plan “definitely within these first 100 days” of Trump’s presidency.

During the forum Ryan was confronted by a cancer patient from Arizona who said the Affordable Care Act had saved his life and asked why Republicans would consider gutting the law without something else in place.

“We wouldn’t do that. We want to replace it with something better,” Ryan said. He claimed that the healthcare law was “collapsing” and said that Republicans needed to rescue Americans from soaring premiums and increasing deductibles.

Trump campaigned with zeal on the promise of repealing the law on “day one” and replacing it with “something terrific”. Beyond that, he has offered few details about his proposal.

At a news conference earlier this week, Trump said Republicans would deliver their healthcare plan to replace the law “very quickly”.

But to pass a replacement plan, Republicans will have to craft a proposal that unites their party, which is deeply divided on how to move forward, as well as win over some Democrats, since they would need a 60-vote super-majority in the Senate, where they only have 52 seats.

Democrats have said they are willing to work with Republicans to improve the law but have shown no desire to rescue them over its replacement.

Passing the measure is only a first step. Now lawmakers on various committees will begin drafting the legislation to replace the bill, a lengthy and exhaustive process that will take place across four committees.

“This is a sad day in the history of this country as Republicans begin the process of destroying healthcare in America,” said Representative Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat of New York. “Repeal and replace is just a slogan, it’s not a solution.”

Also on Friday, Congress approved legislation that would allow retired marine general James Mattis to become defense secretary, granting him an exemption from the law that bars former service members who have been out of uniform for less than seven years from holding the top job at the Pentagon. A White House spokesman said Barack Obama would sign the measure if Congress approved it before he leaves office next week.
The United States House of Representatives approaches a vote on a replacement plan for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare).