REUTERS-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.
REUTERS
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