Republicans in Congress have cleared the first major hurdle in repealing and replacing Obamacare.
After a false start, Republicans in Congress narrowly passed the American Health Care Act by a vote of 217-213 on Thursday. The bill is the first step on the promise to repeal and replace Obamacare, a rallying cry for Republicans during the Obama presidency.
“A lot of us have been waiting seven years to cast this vote,” said speaker Paul Ryan just before the vote took place, according to Politico. This is the first time the bill has been voted on, as the first effort to vote was pulled after Republicans were unable to gather enough support.
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“Passage of the American Health Care Act is a crucial first step toward health-care reform that works for small business,” said NFIB president and CEO Juanita Duggan in a statement on Thursday. “It repeals many of the Obamacare taxes, repeals the mandates, and clears the way for additional reforms to make health care affordable, flexible, and predictable. Small business owners have been waiting for repeal for many years. As predicted during NFIB’s landmark lawsuit to overturn Obamacare in the Supreme Court, our members’ costs have skyrocketed and choices for employers and employees were destroyed. Now that the House has kept its promise, we urge the Senate to pass the measure as soon as possible.”
Republicans in the House spent the week leading up to the landmark vote whipping votes from as many colleagues as possible, with president Trump personally stepping in and advocating for the bill. Now, the bill moves onto the Senate, where some Republicans have already expressed concern about it as written. Should it be altered in any way, it will be sent back to the House for another round of voting or sent to a conference committee to iron out differences.
With health care now in the hands of the Senate, House Republicans are expected to tackle tax reform. The White House released its tax plan last week, calling for a 15 percent business tax rate.
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