On the same day that the United States Senate cast a crucial procedural vote that could lead to abolishing the nation’s health care law, the Affordable Care Act, Donald Trump will hold a campaign rally that will live stream from the Trump stronghold of Youngstown, Ohio, on Tuesday. A live stream of the Trump speech, coming just a day after Trump delivered a controversial speech to the Boy Scouts of America, may be viewed by scrolling down on this page.

The Trump campaign rally is scheduled to get underway at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 4 p.m. Pacific, at Covelli Centre in Youngstown, about four hours after the Senate cast a razor-close vote to proceed with debate on whether or not to repeal the Affordable Care Act, better known as “Obamacare;” the signature legislation passed during the term of President Barack Obama.

An actual vote on whether to repeal “Obamacare” will likely take place later this week. On Tuesday, the Senate split 50 votes to 50 on the move to proceed with debate on repeal. All 46 Senate Democrats plus the Senate’s two independents — Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine — voted against moving ahead with the repeal debate. Two Republicans also voted “no,” breaking ranks with their party and with Trump, who has demanded that Republicans show “loyalty” to him by voting in favor of repealing the Affordable Care Act.

Watch a live stream of Trump’s Youngstown rally celebrating the Senate vote by clicking on the video below, courtesy of Right Side Broadcasting.

Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska were the two GOP members joining Democrats in the “no” vote. In cases of a tie vote in the Senate, the vice president is called upon to cast a tie-breaking vote, which Mike Pence did, giving the “no” vote a 51-50 majority win.

Youngstown is considered a bellwether of how white working class voters will tilt in presidential elections, and Trump visited the city — with its small population of only 60,000 residents — three times during his 2016 presidential campaign. Youngstown voters supported Trump in that election, and polls show that support for Trump in the Youngstown region remains strong.

Nonetheless, those same voters worry about how Trump’s effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act will affect their lives and their own health care. In interviews with the Associated Press, area residents expressed mixed opinions about Trump and his health care repeal push.

Jeni and Kevin Potter, whose 13-year-old daughter Erin is a three-time leukemia victim, told the AP that they might be forced to move to Canada — which has a national health insurance program — or the state of Massachusetts, which has its own state-level health care program similar to “Obamacare,” if the health care repeal strongly backed by Trump passes and is signed into law.

By contrast, 72-year-old Judy Martin told the AP that even though she has spent her entire life savings after working 51 years in a factory on medical expenses and now spends $400 of her $1,500 monthly Social Security benefit on medications and other health care costs, she believes that Trump will lower her medical expenses “and that he will take care of the little people.” </s> Washington (CNN) In a major victory for President Donald Trump, the House has voted to dismantle the pillars of the Affordable Care Act and make sweeping changes to the nation's health care system.

The bill now heads to the Senate where it faces daunting challenges because of the same ideological splits between conservative and moderate Republicans that nearly killed it in the House.

Trump said he is confident the bill will pass the Senate, calling Obamacare "essentially dead."

"This is a great plan. I actually think it will get even better. This is a repeal and replace of Obamacare. Make no mistake about it," Trump said at a celebratory White House appearance with House Republicans.

After a dramatic week of negotiations, lobbying from Trump and Republican leaders, the vote ended with 217 GOP lawmakers backing the measure. Twenty Republicans opposed it, as did all House Democrats.

Trump argued the health care process has unified the GOP. "We've developed a bond," he said. "This has really brought the Republican Party together."

"As far as I'm concerned, your premiums are going to come down," Trump said.

Democrats were unable to stop the GOP vote aimed at President Barack Obama's signature legislative achievement. But after the final vote was cast, they chanted "nah nah nah nah hey hey hey goodbye" to their Republican colleagues, with a few members waving, as they believe the vote will lead to many GOP lawmakers losing their seats in the November 2018 midterms.

Thursday marks a political milestone -- one that has painfully eluded Trump and House leaders for months. The controversial health care bill delivered Trump the biggest political defeat of his short presidency in March, when the legislation had to be yanked from the House floor because it simply didn't have enough support.

Under pressure from an antsy Trump looking to score a big political victory, Republican leaders tried again last week, hoping to to get to 216 votes ahead of the President's symbolically important 100-day mark in office. That effort, too, failed.

Before the vote on the House floor, House Speaker Paul Ryan made the case that Republicans had no choice but to work to put Obamacare -- what he called a "failing law" -- behind them. "Let's give people more choices and more control over their care."

"Let's return power from Washington to the states," Ryan said.

"A lot of us have been waiting seven years to cast this vote." Ryan said. Many lawmakers, he added are "here because they promised to cast this vote."

'Rocky' plays in GOP meeting

Thursday morning, Republicans were already in a celebratory mode. The theme song to "Rocky" played as members filed in to a meeting in the House basement.

Rep. Daniel Webster described Ryan as almost "giddy."

Asked if he will be relieved when all of this is over, Virginia Rep. Dave Brat said simply: "Highly!"

When it came time for House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to speak in the meeting, an image of Gen. George S. Patton popped up on the LCD screens in the room. McCarthy proceeded to roll off several motivational quotes from Patton to urge the conference along.

There was also high praise for Trump: New York Rep. Chris Collins credited the President for getting the bill across the finish line. "This was Donald J. Trump, the negotiator getting it done," Collins said.

Before the final vote, the House unanimously passed a separate bill that will ensure members of Congress and their staffs are subject to the rules of their new health care measure. Originally, Republicans were under fire after it was reported that they wouldn't be subject to the rules of their own bill. Republicans said that they were required to include the exemption under Senate rules.

Democrats ready for 2018 fight

Democrats, for their part, are poised to hold the health care bill over the heads of Republicans next year.

As anxious reporters stood outside of Ryan's office Wednesday night, waiting for guidance on whether there would be a vote Thursday morning, Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings approached the group to joke that he had a "breaking" announcement.

Republicans had the votes on their health care bill, Cummings said. His punchline: And Democrats will take back the House in 2018.

As originally introduced, the GOP bill would leave 24 million fewer people insured by 2026 than under Obamacare, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said. There will not be a new CBO report before Thursday's vote on the legislation.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi blasted the bill and timing of the vote.

"Do you believe in what is in this bill?" she said Thursday. "Some of you have said ... well, they'll fix it in the Senate. But you have every provision of this bill tattoos on your forehead you will glow in the dark on this one."

The remark was met with cheers and applause.

"You will glow in the dark," she repeated. "So don't walk the plank."

But the weight of the moment -- Republicans being able to start the process of replacing Obamacare -- was not lost on Democrats.

Off of the House floor, Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver raised his left pant leg to show a CNN reporter huge scars he has on his knee. He said he has had six surgeries, two to replace his knee.

"I'm thinking about the people back home who are hurting. I'm talking about myself. I mean, I'm a pre-existing condition," he said. "It's not apolitical game for all these people out here in the country who are hurting and scared to death."

Cleaver said when Obamacare was enacted in 2010, he never could have imagined that this day would come.

"I thought that even though this place has become toxic, that nobody would jeopardize the health of millions of people for some political purpose," he said. "And the number is still 24 million people who will be without health coverage."

What's in the bill?

The GOP health care bill would eliminate Obamacare taxes on the wealthy, insurers and others, and get rid of the individual mandate imposed by Obamacare, officially known as the Affordable Care Act. Instead of the Obamacare subsidies that are tied to income and premiums, the GOP plan would provide Americans with refundable tax credits based mainly on age to purchase health insurance.

The legislation would also allow insurers to charge higher premiums to those in their 50s and early 60s, compared to younger consumers.

It would also significantly curtail federal support for Medicaid and allow states to require able-bodied adults to work. After 2020, states that expanded Medicaid would no longer receive enhanced federal funding to cover low-income adults, and those that hadn't expanded would be immediately barred from doing so.

And it would allow states to relax some key Obamacare protections of those with pre-existing conditions, which are among the health reform law's most popular provisions. States could apply for waivers to allow insurers to offer skimpier policies that don't cover the 10 essential health benefits mandated by Obamacare. Also, insurers would be able to charge higher premiums to those with medical issues if they let their coverage lapse. States requesting waivers would have to set up programs -- such as high-risk pools -- to protect insurers from high-cost patients.

An eleventh-hour amendment that helped seal the missing GOP votes would add $8 billion over five years to fund high-risk pools and go toward patients with pre-existing conditions in states that seek waivers under the Republican legislation. The legislation already included $130 billion in the fund.

However, the GOP bill doesn't touch one beloved piece of Obamacare -- letting children stay on their parents' insurance plans until the age of 26. </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> 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 (AP) – The Senate has voted to move ahead on health care legislation aimed at dismantling the Obama health law.

The vote was 51-50 on Tuesday, a victory for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and President Donald Trump. Last week, McConnell was forced to postpone the vote, lacking the support of conservatives and moderates.

In a dramatic turn, Sen. John McCain returned from Arizona where he is battling brain cancer to cast a crucial vote on proceeding on health care.

The vote sets up days of debate and votes on repealing and replacing Barack Obama’s health care law. Whatever the Senate approves still requires a vote in the House.

A short time later, President Donald Trump praised the Senate for moving forward on health care repeal. He says a vote Tuesday to take up the Republican health care bill “was a big step.”

Trump adds that he wants “to congratulate the American people” because better health care is on the way.

Shouting “Kill the bill” and “shame,” the demonstrators stood in the visitors’ gallery and chanted. They were led out of the chamber by police but could still be heard.

The Senate chamber was packed, with lawmakers standing to cast their votes.

Join The Conversation On The KDKA Facebook Page

 Stay Up To Date, Follow KDKA On Twitter </s> Washington (CNN) Top White House officials descended on Capitol Hill Thursday night to personally deliver President Donald Trump's ultimatum to House Republicans: Negotiations on their health care bill are over, and the House will vote Friday.

Then, there was this: If the bill doesn't pass Friday, Trump is ready to move on and Republicans will be "stuck with Obamacare."

That message, conveyed by Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney to tired lawmakers over Chick-fil-A and Corner Bakery snacks, finally put an end to the looming question of whether the GOP health care legislation would end up on the House floor. It also dared Republican critics and skeptics of the bill like the conservative House Freedom Caucus to own the political consequences of reneging on the party's years-long pledge to gut President Barack Obama's landmark health care law.

The outcome of Friday's vote is unclear. If the bulk of the Freedom Caucus remains opposed to the bill, leadership does not believe it has the votes to clear the bill in the House.

According to CNN's ongoing whip count, 27 House Republicans have said they will vote against the bill and four more have indicated they are likely to oppose it. Republicans can't lose more than 21 members of their caucus and still pass the bill, since no Democrats are expected to support it.

The dramatic scene on Capitol Hill followed 24 hours of tense negotiations and hushed meetings on both ends of Pennsylvania Ave. By Thursday afternoon, GOP leaders had postponed the vote scheduled for that day.

The decision to end negotiations came from the White House, a person with direct knowledge said. Leadership and top White House aides spent the late afternoon "trying to grind them down," the source said, referring to the Freedom Caucus. But there was no clear progress, so in private conversations, even as meetings were ongoing with the Freedom Caucus, Trump made the decision to go ahead with the vote.

"There's nothing more we want to -- or really can -- give them," the source said

Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan spoke by phone for nearly 45 minutes late Thursday, multiple sources told CNN. A source familiar with the discussions said was an "entirely positive call."

But the struggle to repeal Obamacare has highlighted both Trump's and Ryan's struggles to reconcile their own party's deep and glaring internal divisions.

Both men have been furiously lobbying lawmakers and especially the Freedom Caucus to get behind the legislation, as the group has tried to push the bill to the right but whose proposals have alienated moderate Republicans.

Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office came out with more bad news on Thursday. Changes Republicans made earlier this week to the bill will actually only decrease federal deficits by $150 billion over 10 years, while the original measure would have lowered deficits by $337 billion.

The measure still would leave 24 million fewer people insured by 2026 than under Obamacare, CBO said.

The challenge for leaders as they've counted their votes has been daunting: Give conservatives too much of what they want and risk losing the moderates, but keep the moderates on board and conservatives could walk.

On Wednesday and Thursday, non-Freedom Caucus Republicans began to turn their backs on the bill, saying it was not a plan they could back on behalf of their constituents.

The moderate Tuesday Group trekked to the White House Thursday afternoon after intense deliberations of their own and a meeting with Ryan. The group had seven boxes of pizza as well as Doritos and Baked Lays delivered to a room in the Capitol earlier in the day.

Even after Trump delivered his ultimatum Thursday night, some of the moderate Republicans previously opposed to the bill -- such as New Jersey Rep. Leonard Lance -- said they would still vote "no."

In trying to win votes for the health care bill, Trump has also experienced firsthand the reality of what it can be like to work with the Freedom Caucus, a top GOP source said -- that they can be deeply frustrating because they don't really want to get to yes and keep changing their demands.

The drawn-out exercise has also created hard feelings within the House GOP conference.

Alabama GOP Rep. Bradley Byrne, emerging from a meeting with top House leaders on Thursday, blasted the House GOP leadership's move to continue talks with the hard right in the Freedom Caucus while leaving the bulk of other members in the dark.

"I think the window for making decisions is rapidly closing. We need a vote or go home," said Byrne, a member of a large group of fiscal conservatives, the Republican Study Committee.

Moderates are unhappy

A key element of the negotiations between the Freedom Caucus and the White House revolved around the so-called "essential health benefits." Obamacare mandated that certain insurers to cover 10 services, including maternity, prescription drugs, substance abuse and mental health.

It has made coverage more comprehensive and prevented insurers from selling skimpy plans that were cheap, but didn't offer many benefits -- often leaving consumers with big bills if they needed care.

On the flip side, the measure has also driven up premiums and restricted consumers' choice to buy more limited coverage. Republicans have long wanted to get rid of the essential health benefits provision, which is key to their pledge to reduce premiums and offer choice to consumers.

Removing the provision could also greatly weaken the law's protection of those with pre-existing conditions. Without the requirement to cover comprehensive policies, insurers could opt exclude some of the priciest services that sick Americans.

The final bill that Republicans will vote for on Friday would repeal the essential health benefits provision.

That decision has frustrated plenty of Republican lawmakers.

"A lot of people don't realize what the implications of that are," one lawmaker said. "So we're gonna railroad this thing through and there's going to be even more people pissed off -- our constituents, stakeholders."

What's in the bill

The GOP health care bill, introduced earlier this month, would roll back many of the Obamacare taxes and eradicate the individual mandate. Instead of the subsidies available under Obamacare, officially known as the Affordable Care Act, the GOP plan provides Americans with refundable tax credits to purchase health insurance.

The bill also significantly restructures Medicaid and allows states to require able-bodied adults to work if they want to be eligible for the program. After 2020, states will no longer be able to expand Medicaid like they could under Obamacare and states that haven't expanded the program at all are barred from doing so.

However, the GOP bill still includes some of the most popular pieces of Obamacare, including letting children stay on their parents' insurance plans until the age of 26 and including protections for people with pre-existing conditions, though insurers would be allowed to charge higher premiums to individuals whose coverage has lapsed.

This story will continue to be updated as developments warrant. </s> By Ed O’keefe, Paige Winfield Cunningham and Amy Goldstein, The Washington Post

WASHINGTON – House Republicans narrowly passed a controversial bill to revise Affordable Care Act, fulfilling a major Trump campaign promise but sending the measure on to an uncertain fate in the closely divided Senate.

Passage in the House by a vote of 217 to 213 capped weeks of fits and starts for the GOP and represented an enormous victory for President Donald Trump, who repeatedly pledged on the campaign trail last year to repeal and replace Obamacare but has struggled to secure legislative wins early in his president. The vote was also a big win for House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., who has been working on the legislation since January but has failed to unite his ideologically divided caucus.

“Today, this House has the opportunity to do more than just fulfill a promise,” Ryan said to the House chamber moments before the vote. “We have the opportunity to raise our gaze and set a bold course for our country.”

He continued: “This bill delivers on the promises that we have made to the American people. You know, a lot of us have been waiting seven years to cast this vote. Many of us are here because we pledged to cast this very vote – to repeal and replace Obamacare, to rescue people from this collapsing law. Are we going to meet this test? Are we going to be men and women of our word?”

Several White House aides began Thursday morning by texting each other and reporters with two words: “game day.”

“We’ll have the votes. This will pass,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., vowed on Thursday morning.

Democrats, meanwhile, predicted that the measure would be devastating for Americans’ health-care coverage but also, on a political level, for Republicans who voted for it.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., noted that many Americans can’t name their member of Congress, but that Thursday’s vote is set to capture the nation’s ire.

“You will glow in the dark on this one,” Pelosi warned. “So don’t walk the plank, especially unnecessarily.”

The vote caps a haphazard debate that included few public hearings and the hasty revision of key sections of the bill during closed-door meetings at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue designed to secure votes from skeptical conservatives and moderates initially unwilling to support the legislation.

Despite more than six years of campaign pledges to undo the ACA and the recent changes to the legislation, several Republican lawmakers admitted Thursday that they have not read the bill or ignored questions about their understanding of the bill that were shouted by reporters. Republicans have accused Democrats in the past of ramming their health-care bill through without giving members a chance to absorb it – but on Thursday they insisted that they are not doing the same thing.

They argued that their health-care bill is only several hundred pages long, compared with the size of the Affordable Care Act, which ran several thousand pages.

Democrats “put a 2,000 page bill on the table they knew no one had time to read, and we’re not doing that,” said Rep. H. Morgan Griffith, R-Va.

“This is a rough and tumble exercise that the Founding Fathers anticipated,” he added.

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., said he was willing to abandon his previous demands that leaders allow hearings and discussion of the legislation because members had opportunities to weigh in on amendments over the past several days. The decision marks a significant shift for hard-line Freedom Caucus members who have insisted that leaders give them ample time to read legislation and weigh in before a bill comes up for a vote.

“We’ve had members working with members to come up with real amendments that are getting adopted today,” Meadows said. “I can tell you that I have read the bill no less than six times. If they haven’t read the bill it is because they haven’t spent the time to do that.”

Republicans also disregarded the absence of a final cost estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office – Congress’s official scorekeeper – on how much the bill would cost and how many people would receive health-care coverage. Several said that last-minute changes to the legislation won’t significantly change the final estimates.

“We’re still comfortable we’re saving billions and billions of dollars,” said Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y.

Though Republicans have for years spoken of repealing the ACA as a prime goal, the legislation would stop short of outright eliminating the 2010 health-care law enacted by a Democratic Congress and the Obama administration. Nevertheless, it would make a significant dent in large portions of current law.

In broad strokes, the bill represents an attempt to shift to a more conservative vision for the nation’s health-care policies. It would move from the federal government to states power to set important health insurance rules. It would end the ACA’s subsidies for most people who buy health plans through marketplaces created under the law, creating, instead, new tax credits with clear winners and losers. And it would rescind several taxes that have helped pay for the law, including ones imposed on Americans with high incomes, health insurers, medical devices and tanning salons.

The bill faces a steeper climb in the Senate, where widespread disagreement remains among Republicans about how to proceed on health care. First, the Senate’s parliamentarian – or rules-keeper – cannot review the legislation and determine the rules of debate until the CBO submits its official estimate, which could take several more weeks to complete, according to congressional aides. That would mean that official Senate debate on the bill could not begin until June.

Even then, the issue of health care reform is expected to be treated much more skeptically by Republican senators.

“A bill – finalized yesterday, has not been scored, amendments not allowed, and 3 hours final debate – should be viewed with caution,” Sen. Lindsey O. Graham, R-S.C., tweeted on Thursday ahead of the House vote.

Among many other concerns, GOP senators from states that have expanded Medicaid under the ACA have voiced concerns about rollbacks to that program included in the House bill. A trio of conservative senators – Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Mike Lee, R-Utah and Rand Paul, R-Ky. – who often buck GOP leaders are another wild card. With just a 52-48 advantage over Democrats, Senate Republicans have a smaller margin for error than their House counterparts.

The House measure may run into other procedural roadblocks in the Senate. The original proposal initially left many of the ACA’s insurance regulations alone – with the goal of ensuring it would pass muster with the Senate parliamentarian – but not all of them. The House’s version of the bill would undercut the ACA’s insurance regulations even more. That might make it difficult for Republican senators to pass the measure under a procedural maneuver known as “reconciliation,” which is usually reserved for budget legislation.

The legislation does not eliminate the ACA’s requirement that most Americans carry health insurance, but it would undercut that requirement by erasing the penalty for not having coverage. Instead, the bill would create a deterrent: enabling insurers to charge 30 percent higher premiums for one year to customers who have had a gap in coverage of at least about two months.

In the week leading up to the vote, a tug of war has played out among different wings of the House GOP over how much power states should have over insurance regulations. In the end, the bill incorporates two features advocated by the hard-right House Freedom Caucus. One would allow states to eliminate parts of the ACA that require insurers to include specific “essential health benefits” in health plans sold to individuals and small businesses, and set their own coverage requirements or none at all. The other would let states get federal permission to let insurers return to their old practice of charging more to customers with preexisting medical problems – a practice that the ACA outlaws.

An amendment last week freeing states to drop the same-price requirement for healthy and sick customers produced a backlash among some in the GOP conference. In the end, the bill includes $8 billion intended to be spread over five years to states that back out of this part of the ACA.

Medicaid would also be transformed in two ways. For the 31 states that, under the ACA, have expanded the safety-net program to include people with slightly higher incomes, the government would immediately stop paying for any one new to enroll under the expansion and would eventually stop the extra money the ACA has provided for that purpose. And starting in a few years, Medicaid would end its half-century tradition as an entitlement program in which the government pays a certain share for each person who enrolls, switching to a “cap” with a fixed amount per person – a change that would lessen federal funding.

Much of the recent contention among Republicans revolved around how to protect patients with expensive, preexisting conditions, prompting several amendments to the bill. Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden presented those changes as improvements to the bill, in a slide presentation Thursday morning to his colleagues.

According to the slides, insurers could charge such patients more only if a number of conditions were met. States would have to get a waiver from the federal government and the individual would have to be uninsured and buying their coverage on the individual market.

No matter when and how Senate debate begins, House Republicans exhibited a palpable sense of relief Thursday that the issue is off their plates – at least for now.

Meadows, who struggled for weeks to rally his caucus around the measure, said the Senate will make changes he might not necessarily back.

Collins added that “only time will tell” whether the bill will have a chance in the House once the Senate changes it.

The Post’s Sean Sullivan, David Weigel, Kelsey Snell, Robert Costa and Paul Kane contributed to this report. </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> The House voted Thursday to overturn one of President Trump Donald John TrumpTrump administration unveils new executive order on counterterrorism sanctions GOP lawmaker calls for investigation into CNN spy story GOP senators say Trump deserves compatible national security adviser after Bolton firing MORE’s key ObamaCare moves, advancing a bill that Democrats have framed as protecting people with pre-existing conditions.

Passed in a largely party-line vote of 230-183, the bill seeks to overturn guidance the Trump administration released last year expanding a program that allows states to innovate and waive certain ObamaCare rules.

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Republicans argued that Democrats were simply trying to score political points with a bill that did not actually add new protections for people with preexisting conditions. Democrats, meanwhile, said that the legislation was needed to fight Trump’s efforts to weaken the health law’s current protections for those with preexisting conditions.

Four Republicans voted with Democrats for the bill, including Reps. John Katko John Michael KatkoHillicon Valley: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's account hacked | Google found iPhone security bug | YouTube reportedly to pay up to 0M to settle child privacy investigation | DNC expected to nix Iowa virtual caucus plans Key Republican lawmaker introduces legislation to defend state, local governments against cyberattacks Republicans should get behind the 28th Amendment MORE (N.Y) and Brian Fitzpatrick Brian K. FitzpatrickHouse Democrats targeting six more Trump districts for 2020 Ensuring quality health care for those with intellectual disabilities and autism House Democrats target 2020 GOP incumbents in new ad MORE (Pa.), who face potentially tough reelection races next year, and Reps. Jim Sensenbrenner (Wis.) and Chris Smith Christopher (Chris) Henry SmithRepublicans plot comeback in New Jersey The 9 House Republicans who support background checks The Hill's Morning Report: Trump walks back from 'send her back' chants MORE (N.J.).

Democrats have put forward a range of bills they frame as protecting people with preexisting conditions, looking to hammer Republicans on an issue that helped Democrats win back the House last year.

Democrats say the move announced by the Trump administration last year allows states to cast aside important protections under ObamaCare.

For example, the new guidance would allow ObamaCare subsidies to be used to buy cheaper plans, which Democrats deride as “junk” plans, that do not have to cover preexisting conditions.

“This legislation should not be necessary, but unfortunately the Trump Administration continues to take actions that undermine the health care of millions of Americans, including the more than 133 million people with pre-existing conditions,” said House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone Jr. Frank Joseph PallonePush on 'surprise' medical bills hits new roadblocks Overnight Health Care: Insurance lobby chief calls Biden, Sanders health plans 'similarly bad' | Trump officials appeal drug price disclosure ruling | Study finds 1 in 7 people ration diabetes medicine due to cost House Democratic chairman launches probe of e-cigarette makers MORE (D-N.J.).

Republicans, though, said the Trump administration’s action was simply giving states more flexibility.

“They claim their agenda is ‘for the people,’” said Rep. Greg Walden Gregory (Greg) Paul WaldenWave of GOP retirements threatens 2020 comeback Push on 'surprise' medical bills hits new roadblocks Innovation for the climate through innovative policy MORE (Ore.), the top Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee. “Well, this bill is ‘for the politics.’”

“Let me be very clear: This bill has nothing to do with protecting Americans with preexisting conditions,” he added. “This bill has everything to do with eliminating health care options and choices for states.”

The bill is not expected to go anywhere in the Republican-controlled Senate.

The House will vote on additional health care legislation next week that includes measures to overturn the Trump administration’s expansion of cheaper, skimpier insurance plans and to provide funding for enrollment outreach efforts that Trump slashed.
The United States House of Representatives votes to overturn President Donald Trump’s move on the Affordable Care Act.