| WASHINGTON
File Photo: A boy waits in line at a health insurance enrollment event in Cudahy, California March 27, 2014. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
The U.S. Senate on Thursday
took a first concrete step toward dismantling Obamacare, voting to instruct key
committees to draft legislation repealing President Barack Obama's signature
health insurance program.
The vote was 51-48. The
resolution now goes to the House of Representatives, which is expected to vote
on it this week. Scrapping Obamacare is a top priority for the Republican
majorities in both chambers and Republican President-elect Donald Trump.
Republicans have said that the
process of repealing Obamacare could take months, and developing a replacement
plan could take longer. But they are under pressure from Trump to act fast; he
said on Wednesday that the repeal and replacement should happen "essentially
simultaneously."
Some 20 million previously
uninsured Americans gained health coverage through the Affordable Care Act, as
Obamacare is officially called. Coverage was extended by expanding Medicaid and
through online exchanges where consumers can receive income-based subsidies.
Republicans have launched
repeated legal and legislative efforts to unravel the law, criticizing it as
government overreach. They say they want to replace it by giving states, not
the federal government, more control.
But in recent days some
Republicans have expressed concern about the party's current strategy of voting
for a repeal without having a consensus replacement plan ready.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said
this week he wants to pack as many replacement provisions as possible into the
legislation repealing Obamacare. But Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin
Hatch, also a Republican, said this could be difficult under Senate rules.
The resolution approved
Thursday instructs committees of the House and Senate to draft repeal
legislation by a target date of January 27. Both chambers will then need to
approve the resulting legislation before any repeal goes into effect.
Senate Republicans are using
special budget procedures that allow them to repeal Obamacare by a simple majority;
this way they don't need Democratic votes. Republicans have a majority of 52
votes in the 100-seat Senate; one Republican, Senator Rand Paul, voted no on
Thursday.
Democrats mocked the
Republican effort, saying Republicans have never united around an alternative
to Obamacare. "They want to kill ACA but they have no idea how they are
going to bring forth a substitute proposal," declared Senator Bernie
Sanders of Vermont.
Trump said Wednesday he would submit a replacement
plan as soon as his nominee to lead the Health and Human Services department,
Representative Tom Price, is approved by the Senate. But Trump gave no details.
Democrats passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010 over
united Republican opposition. Democrats say the act is insuring more Americans
and helping to slow the growth in healthcare spending.
But Republicans say the system is not working. The
average Obamacare premium is set to rise 25 percent in 2017.
(Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Nick Macfie)
No comments:
Post a Comment