House sends Obamacare repeal bill to White House

This is the first time a bill repealing the contentious health care law has reached the president’s desk, though not for lack of trying from Republicans.

The formal title of the bill is “the Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act” (H.R. 3762) – or “the budget reconciliation bill” for short.

For the first time, it could also pass the senate.

The Republican-controlled Congress does not have enough votes to override the veto.

Representative Kristi Noem today joined the House in passing legislation to repeal the majority of President Obama’s health care law.

The House passed Wednesday a measure that repeals elements of Obamacare and denies Planned Parenthood federal funds, two policy priorities Republicans have struggled to move through Congress.

The legislation now heads to the White House, where the president will veto it. “They are the signs of failure”, Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, said ahead of the vote Wednesday.

HILLARY CLINTON: I think we should build on the Affordable Care Act.

“It is our opportunity as Republicans to lay out the choice for the American people”, said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington.

“It’s no surprise that President Obama has threatened to veto this bill, as Planned Parenthood spent over $12 million to re-elect him in 2012”.

Democrats say the Affordable Care Act has helped about 17-million Americans gain medical coverage, allowed young people to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until age 26 and stopped insurance companies from refusing to cover patients with pre-existing conditions.

Despite the final vote in the House coming late in the afternoon, ABC’s World News Tonight, the CBS Evening News, and NBC Nightly News chose not to even muster a news brief informing their viewers of this action by the Republican-led Congress (with the Senate vote coming via reconciliation). John Katko and Richard Hanna, both of NY, and Rep. Bob Dold of IL all voted against the measure, while Collin Peterson was the sole Democrat supporting the effort.

“While there is no question that our current healthcare law is badly flawed, I made a promise to Central New Yorkers that I would not support an outright repeal of Obamacare unless a suitable replacement was presented”, Katko said after the vote.

The hour-long floor debate swung in predictable directions, as Republicans argued Obamacare was too expensive for people and overly burdensome on employers, and Democrats denounced its repeal as an attack on the poor.

The repeal legislation would decrease the USA deficit by about $516 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office, Congress’s nonpartisan scorekeeper.

“National Right to Life supporters across the nation should take great satisfaction in today’s approval of this landmark legislation, which builds a bridge to future victories against Obamacare and Planned Parenthood”, said NRLC President Carol Tobias.