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. </s> The US House of Representatives has taken the first step toward demolishing President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, known as Obamacare.Republicans passed a budget measure to introduce a bill - which Democrats cannot block - to roll back the law.But members of both parties in Congress are concerned about a lack of replacement for Obamacare.The political showdown raises a big question mark over medical coverage for more than 20 million Americans.The measure passed in the House nearly on a party-line vote, 227-198, delivering a blow to President Obama's legacy a week before he leaves office.It instructs four committees on Capitol Hill to draft repeal legislation by 27 January.The Senate passed the resolution by 51-48 on Thursday.Can Obamacare be repealed?US patients await Obamacare's fate"By taking the first step toward repealing Obamacare, we are closer to giving Americans relief from the problems this law has caused," House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement following the vote."This resolution gives us the tools we need for a step-by-step approach to fix these problems and put Americans back in control of their health care."Obamacare has provided healthcare subsidies and medical coverage for millions who are not covered through work.It has banned insurers from refusing coverage to people who are already ill, and curbed medical charges to the sick and elderly.But the law has been rocked by rising premiums, large fees and national insurers exiting the marketplaces.Egged on by Donald Trump, Republicans have vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act but conservatives have not yet agreed on a new plan. President-elect Donald J. Trump demanded on Tuesday that Congress immediately repeal the Affordable Care Act and pass another health law quickly. His remarks put Republicans in the nearly impossible position of having only weeks to replace a health law that took nearly two years to pass. “We have to get to business,” Mr. Trump told The New York Times in a telephone interview. “Obamacare has been a catastrophic event.” U.S. USA America "united States" Law Congress Republican Promise Obamacare Insurance "Health Insurance" poverty Poor Rich Wealth Lies Truth Plan "Health Insurance Plan" "American Dream" States Speech Meeting Experiment Lawyer health healthy hospital "travel insurance" doctor emergency savings salary family "health savings account" budget debt 2017 2018 future elite agenda news media entertainment benefit account sick sickness "private healthcare" surgery "elite nwo agenda" cancer charityMr. Trump appeared to be unclear both about the timing of already scheduled votes in Congress and about the difficulty of his demand — a repeal vote “probably some time next week” and a replacement “very quickly or simultaneously, very shortly thereafter.” As their first major act of the new Congress, Republicans rushed approval of a budget resolution this week that sets up a framework for repealing Obamacare, but what exactly to replace it with is still a puzzle Republicans are piecing together.House Speaker Paul Ryan, a college freshman who won't shut up about how you really should read more Ayn Rand books, is in a bit of a pickle right now. On the one hand, he and his fellow Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House, setting the stage for the Affordable Care Act repeal that they've promised to the point of fetishization for the last six-plus years. On the other hand, after six-plus years, they still have no idea what the hell they're going to do instead! (Hope you got all your serious illness and major injuries out of the way in 2016, friend.) As Republicans try to repeal the Affordable Care Act, they should be reminded every day that 36,000— Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.), in a tweet, Jan. 12, 2017With the fate of the Affordable Care Act hanging in the balance, the rhetorical warfare is only going to get worse. Earlier this week, we looked at an exaggerated GOP claim about Obamacare premiums. </s> Hours after a replacement for the Affordable Care Act was all but scuttled by a clutch of Senate Republicans, three lawmakers appear to have doomed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's Plan B: Repeal the Affordable Care Act without replacing it.

Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Susan Collins of Maine have all said they would vote "no" on a motion that would have kicked off McConnell's plan to vote on a straight repeal of Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

"To repeal, there has to be a replacement," Murkowski told reporters Tuesday. "There's enough chaos already, and this would just contribute to it."

Collins echoed those sentiments. "We can't just hope that we will pass a replacement within the next two years," she said in a statement, adding that it would "create great uncertainty for individuals who rely on the ACA and cause further turmoil in the insurance markets."

The three no votes were enough to tip the balance against the repeal-only option. With only 52 Republicans in the Senate, the plan for a vote on repeal could afford to lose only two votes. It requires the support of 50 senators for passage. With the defection of Murkowski, Capito and Collins, the bill has no more than 49 in the yes column.

Further, Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas tells NPR's Susan Davis, there are probably "five or six" Republicans in total who are against the motion.

President Trump, speaking to reporters in the Roosevelt Room, dished out plenty of blame for Democrats and Republicans alike.

The president said he was "disappointed" by Monday's collapse of the GOP replacement plan, known as the Better Care Reconciliation Act. He called Democrats "obstructionists" for not supporting the measure. He also vowed that

"For seven years I've been hearing 'repeal and replace' from Congress, and when we finally get a chance ... they don't do it," Trump said.

"I think we're probably in that position where we'll just let Obamacare fail," he said. "We're not going to own it. I'm not going to own it. I can tell you, the Republicans are not going to own it."

Trump vowed on health care that "eventually we're going to get something done, and it's going to be very good."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said of the Republican effort "everyone has given it their best shot."

He too said there would be another repeal vote "sometime in the near future." </s> Hours after a replacement for the Affordable Care Act was all but scuttled by a clutch of Senate Republicans, three lawmakers appear to have doomed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's Plan B: Repeal the Affordable Care Act without replacing it.

Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Susan Collins of Maine have all said they would vote "no" on a motion that would have kicked off McConnell's plan to vote on a straight repeal of Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

"To repeal, there has to be a replacement," Murkowski told reporters Tuesday. "There's enough chaos already, and this would just contribute to it."

Collins echoed those sentiments. "We can't just hope that we will pass a replacement within the next two years," she said in a statement, adding that it would "create great uncertainty for individuals who rely on the ACA and cause further turmoil in the insurance markets."

The three no votes were enough to tip the balance against the repeal-only option. With only 52 Republicans in the Senate, the plan for a vote on repeal could afford to lose only two votes. It requires the support of 50 senators for passage. With the defection of Murkowski, Capito and Collins, the bill has no more than 49 in the yes column.

Further, Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas tells NPR's Susan Davis, there are probably "five or six" Republicans in total who are against the motion.

President Trump, speaking to reporters in the Roosevelt Room, dished out plenty of blame for Democrats and Republicans alike. As for his role in the debacle, he said, "We're not going to own it; I'm not going to own it."

The president said he was "disappointed" by Monday's collapse of the GOP replacement plan, known as the Better Care Reconciliation Act. He called Democrats "obstructionists" for not supporting the measure.

"For seven years I've been hearing 'repeal and replace' from Congress, and when we finally get a chance ... they don't do it," Trump said.

Now that a straight repeal also appears to be dead, the president said it was time to "Let Obamacare fail." He added: "Obamacare has failed. It's gone." </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> After the Senate's attempt to replace the Affordable Care Act collapsed Monday, Republican leaders immediately began talking about repealing the health care law in hopes of coming up with a replacement later.

The plan is to take up the same repeal bill that passed the House and Senate in 2015 and was vetoed by President Obama. And then take the next two years to craft a replacement health plan.

President Trump tweeted his support of the strategy shortly after two Republican senators withdrew their support of the pending Senate bill: "Republicans should just REPEAL failing ObamaCare now & work on a new Healthcare Plan that will start from a clean slate. Dems will join in!"

"The Senate will take up and vote on a repeal of Obamacare combined with a stable two-year transition period," he said on the Senate floor. "President Trump will sign it now."

It's not a new idea.

After President Trump was elected in November, Republicans in Congress consider the so-called "repeal and delay" strategy and rejected it. Here's why:

1. The Cost Of Insurance Premiums Would Skyrocket

While McConnell and Trump call this plan a straight repeal of the Affordable Care Act, it would in fact leave many parts of the law in place. That's because under Senate rules, they can only repeal the parts of the law that have a budget or tax impact.

The law's individual mandate that everyone, healthy or sick, to buy insurance would disappear. But the rule that insurers must write policies for anyone, no matter their health status, would stay.

"Insurers would have to take people with pre-existing conditions, but the the sense is that healthy people without that mandate wouldn't sign up," says Larry Levitt, vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health care research organization. "So insurers, with that kinds of uncertainty, would immediately raise rates."

The Congressional Budget Office analyzed the 2015 legislation in January and said that if it were to pass, insurance premiums would rise 20 percent to 25 percent in the first year. If McConnell's plan works, that means 2018.

Those high prices would drive millions of people out of the insurance market.

The same CBO report estimates that the number of people without insurance would increase by 18 million in the first year after a law similar to the 2015 legislation passes.

That's almost the same number of people who gained insurance in the seven years since the Affordable Care Act passed.

About 10 million people would lose coverage because they'd drop their individual plans, and another 5 million would be dropped from the Medicaid rolls. Another 3 million would lose their employer-provided coverage, CBO says.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V., has already said she won't support the repeal effort because of the threats it poses to people's coverage.

"I did not come to Washington to hurt people," she said in a statement Tuesday morning. "I have serious concerns about how we continue to provide affordable care to those who have benefited from West Virginia's decision to expand Medicaid."

Rising rates and fewer people in the market are the two ingredients for the mythical and much-invoked "death spiral." That's when rates rise so much that nobody can afford insurance and the entire market collapses.

And that's what the Republican's proposed repeal of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, would do, according to multiple health-care analysts.

Robert Laszewski, president of Health Policy and Strategy Associates, a consulting firm, says a repeal and delay "would just cause more market calamity without a known replacement."

And then there's the question of what would replace Obamacare.

Charles Gaba, who runs the AcaSignups.net website that tracks ACA enrollment numbers, doubts congressional Republicans will come up with anything better:

"These guys have had eight years to come up with their 'alternative/replacement' plan, clearly with nothing to show for it," he wrote on his web site. "Does anyone honestly think that they'd actually come up with anything useful given one more year?" </s> CHICAGO (CBS) — After President Donald Trump demanded a make-or-break vote on the Republican health care plan, lawmakers were expected to bring the legislation to the House floor Friday after a long night of closed-door meetings.

However, with several Republicans still expected to vote no, the GOP health care bill could be rejected.

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) scheduled Friday’s votes after a meeting at the White House where the president said negotiations with Republican holdouts were over, and he would leave Obamacare in place and pursue the rest of his agenda if the health care plan fails. The president’s ultimatum came after the House postponed a planned vote on the measure Thursday afternoon.

“I think it was a helpful message,” U.S. Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said. “The president’s done everything he can to put us in a position to win.”

Ryan emerged from closed-door meetings late Thursday night sounding confident about the vote to repeal and replace former President Donald Trump’s signature health care plan, the Affordable Care Act.

“For 7 ½ years, we have been promising the American people that we will repeal and replace this broken law, because it’s collapsing and it’s failing families, and tomorrow we’re proceeding,” he said.

However, with U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) announcing he plans to vote no, CBS News reports at least 35 House Republicans oppose the plan. With Democrats unanimously opposed to the GOP plan, only 22 Republican no votes are needed to reject it.

Many GOP lawmakers have been reluctant to support Ryan’s proposed American Health Care Act, which the Congressional Budget Office has said would leave 14 million fewer people without health insurance in 2018, and 24 million fewer without insurance over the next decade.

“We have to get it right, not get it done fast,” U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Penn.) said. “I thought the bill misses the mark and that’s why I’ve taken the position I’ve taken.”

Democrats also have ripped the AHCA as a $600 billion giveaway to the super-wealthy, referring to the tax cuts included in the plan.

“Let’s pull off the charade here, and expose what’s really going on. This is just another Republican tax cut for the rich,” U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) said.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has said the Republican health care plan would cause hundreds of thousands of Illinois residents to lose health care coverage next year alone. </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 Speaker Paul Ryan, accompanied by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, meets with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday to discuss efforts to replace the Affordable Care Act. (Photo: AP)

Washington: The US House of Representatives has 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 near 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 one week before Republican President-elect Donald Trump takes office, a sense of urgency has swept over Washington about what his party will put forward as a replacement for the 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.

"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 resolution Thursday. It received no Democratic support in either chamber, highlighting the intensely partisan fight that lies ahead.

The resolution provides Republicans with a powerful tool, called reconciliation, which allows repeal legislation to proceed through the 100-member Senate with a simple majority, protected from a Democratic filibuster that requires a 60-vote threshold to overcome.

Trump made repeal of the law a central plank of his insurgent campaign, and he sounded triumphant ahead of the vote.

"The 'Unaffordable' Care Act will soon be history!" he tweeted early on Friday.

Days earlier he said the Republicans ought to repeal and replace Obamacare quickly and "simultaneously."

During a Thursday town hall style event Ryan said he was on board, and that he envisioned action on a plan "within the first hundred days."

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 coverage if there is no replacement plan on offer.
The replacement plan for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) is withdrawn after Republican leaders fail to gain enough support. The failure of the Trump administration to repeal the act means it will remain law in the United States.