GOP votes to repeal health care law
WASHINGTON
The 245-189 vote was largely along party lines, and cleared the
way for the second phase of the "repeal and replace" promise that
victorious Republicans made to the voters last fall. GOP officials
said that in the coming months, congressional committees will
propose changes to the existing legislation, calling for
elimination of a requirement for individuals to purchase coverage,
for example, and recommending curbs on medical malpractice
lawsuits.
Republicans also intend to try to reverse many of the changes
Democrats made to Medicare Advantage, the private alternative to
the traditional government-run health care program for seniors.
Like the repeal bill itself, these other measures will require
Senate approval and a presidential signature to take effect, and
the prospect is for months of maneuvering on the issue.
Debate across two days leading to the vote was markedly
restrained, as lawmakers in both political parties observed
self-imposed vows of civility in the wake of the shooting rampage
in Arizona that left six dead and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords wounded.
But there was no mistaking the significance many first-term
Republican lawmakers attached to a day they had long waited for,
finally getting a chance to speak and then vote on the House floor
against a law they had campaigned for months to repeal.
Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C. said the legislation produced by Obama
and congressional Democrats was a "job-killing, socialistic"
approach to health care. Rep. Frank Guinta of New Hampshire, who
defeated a Democratic incumbent last fall, said it was misguided,
needing repeal.
"The American people have soundly, soundly rejected the
Democrats' government takeover of health care," said Rep. Sandy
Adams of Florida.
Rep. Steve Southerland, also of Florida, said the law imposes a
crushing tax burden on businesses, and he predicted "1.6 million
jobs will be lost by 2014 due to this mandate" to require many
businesses to provide coverage for employees.
Both Floridians won their seats by turning out Democratic
incumbents.
"This is not symbolic. This is why we were sent here," added
Rep. Michelle Bachman, of Minnesota, a third-term conservative with
strong support among tea party activists.
On the short end of the vote, Democrats challenged Republican
claims and highlighted politically popular elements of the bill
that would be wiped out if repeal took effect.
Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., accused some Republicans of "the height
of hypocrisy" by voting to repeal a vast expansion of health care
at the same time they had signed up for coverage for their families
through a government-organized program available to lawmakers.
Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said that despite claims of
employment loss, the economy had added jobs in each of the past 10
months.
In one of the most animated speeches of two days of debate, Rep.
George Miller, D-Calif., said repeal would return power to
insurance companies. "Has anybody, any family in America, any
single mother, any spouse, any child, any grandparent met a more
bureaucratic system than the American health insurance system?
There is no more bureaucratic system."
Three Democrats voted with Republicans on the repeal measure:
Dan Boren of Oklahoma, Mike McIntyre of North Carolina and Mike
Ross of Arkansas.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said the legislation will
not see the light of day there, but the GOP leader, Sen. Mitch
McConnell of Kentucky, said bluntly, "I assure you we will" have
a vote on it.
The law faces another challenge, well beyond the reach of
Obama's veto pen. More than half the states have filed suits
against it, and while some judges have upheld the legislation, one
recently ruled it was unconstitutional to require individuals to
purchase insurance. The Supreme Court is widely expected to have
the final word.
The Obama administration has made a major effort in recent days
to emphasize parts of the bill that have met with public approval,
including one that permits children to age 26 to remain on their
parents' policies if they do not have on-the-job coverage of their
own. Democrats also argue that repeal would short-circuit other
changes yet to take effect, including a ban on the insurance
industry's practice of denying coverage or charging sharply higher
premiums on the basis of a pre-existing medical condition.
Republicans intend to address the same issues with legislation
they say they will bring to the House floor in the coming months,
according to officials who have been involved in discussions on the
issue, but no details were immediately available.
Last year, for example, the Republicans proposed a 10-year, $25
billion program to help states fund programs in which high-risk
individuals could receive affordable coverage.
GOP leaders are working on the assumption that the repeal
legislation will not become law, and they intend to draft future
bills as changes to the structure that Obama and Democrats put into
place.
On one point, they conceded no change was warranted. Majority
Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., told reporters on Tuesday seniors would
be permitted to keep the $250 they have been promised to help
defray the cost of drugs under the Medicare prescription benefit.
The legislation Obama signed last year was sweeping in its
scope.
The Congressional Budget Office said at the time that when fully
enacted, it would spread coverage to tens of millions who now lack
it and - in a forecast rejected by Republicans - reduce federal
deficits over the next decade.
Beginning in 2014, millions of Americans would be required to
carry health insurance, whether through an employer, a government
program, or their own purchase. New insurance marketplaces called
exchanges would open in each state, enabling individuals and small
businesses to pick from menus of private plans that met government
standards. Federal subsidies would help defray the costs.