Obamacare repeal moves forward with House approval

Jan. 14--With a 227-198 vote Friday from the U.S. House of Representatives, the Affordable Care Act is one step closer to repeal.

Senators voted Thursday, 51-48, to approve the measure -- a process called budget reconciliation -- which only required a simple majority vote to kick off the process to repeal major parts of the ACA.

"As West Virginia families on Obamacare are looking at a 32 percent premium increase, it's clear that Obamacare is deeply broken," Rep. Evan Jenkins said in a release after the vote. "More insurers are pulling out of Obamacare, offering fewer choices for consumers all while prices rise."

Not a single Democrat cast a vote Friday in favor of the repeal process, and only nine Republicans voted against it. Many of those who opposed the process expressed concerns about the lack of a ready replacement health care plan.

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said a "thoughtful, step-by-step process" will be launched to replace the ACA, The Washington Post reported. He said Congress would act within the first 100 days of the new administration's arrival on a replacement plan.

"We will be replacing Obamacare with health care that is patient centered, keeps the government out of the doctor-patient relationship, and increases competition by allowing families to shop across state lines for the plan that works for them," Jenkins said. "We need to protect black lung benefits and Medicaid participants, keep insurers from discriminating against patients with pre-existing conditions, and ensure people under the age of 26 can stay on their parents' insurance."

He concluded, "This is about making health care that works for Americans, not the other way around. This vote sets the stage for reforming a broken health care system before it completely collapses."

Since the measure has been approved by the Senate and the House, committees from both chambers will meet to create instructions telling the budget committee what repeal should look like, according to NPR.

NPR also said once repeal legislation is drafted, both houses can pass it with a simple majority, and then it would go to President Donald Trump for signature.

-- Email: wholdren@register-herald.com; follow on Twitter @WendyHoldren

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