WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives approved a
bill to repeal and replace main components of the Affordable Care Act – also
known as Obamacare. The passage of the bill will allow Republicans to recover
from their earlier failures and move a step closer to fulfill their promise to
reshape health care in America without mandated insurance coverage.
The narrow win (217-213 votes) came on President Trump’s 105th
day in office.
The House measure, however, faces deep uncertainty in the
Senate, where the legislation’s sharp spending cuts will almost unquestionably
be moderated.
Just before Thursday’s vote, the Senate gave final approval
to a $1.1 trillion spending bill to finance the government through September,
and unlike the health care bill, the spending bill received wide bi-partisan
support.
Passage of the bill completed an extraordinary act of
political rejuvenation, 6 after House leaders foundered to gather the votes to
pass an earlier version of their bill.
House Speaker Paul Ryan closed the debate saying that a
continuation of the Affordable Care Act would be intolerable.
“It means even higher premiums, even fewer choices, even
more insurance companies pulling out, even more uncertainty and even more
chaos,” Mr. Ryan said.
“What protection is Obamacare if there is no health care
plan to purchase in your state?” he asked.
The House voted on Thursday on a revised health care bill
that would repeal and replace major parts of the Affordable Care Act.
Many Republicans were simply glad the fight was over — for
now.
“We are all breathing a sigh of relief,” Representative
Chris Collins, Republican of New York, said. “We’re living up to a campaign
promise we made, the Senate made, the president made.”
Democrats vowed they’ll make Republicans pay a high price
for pushing such unpopular legislation. Twenty Republicans crossed the aisle
vote against the bill, which, like the Act itself, passed without any votes
from the minority party. As Republicans crossed 217 votes, Democrats heckled
them, saying: “Nah nah nah nah, hey hey hey goodbye.”
“I have never seen political suicide in my life like I’m
seeing today,” Representative Louise M. Slaughter, Democrat of New York, said.
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