U.S House Passes Bill To Repeal Obamacare

*Bill Goes To Senate*

U.S House Republicans on Thursday voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace them with their health-care bill.

The House voted 217 to 213 to pass the GOP health-care law, which is a major victory for President Donald Trump.

Twenty Republicans voted against the bill, and no Democrats backed it, with many believing the plan would cause millions to lose health insurance.

But winning approval for the bill could be even more difficult in the Senate than it has been in the House, where Republican leaders struggled for nearly two months to narrowly secure its passage.

The bill — which would dramatically change the way the federal government funds purchases of individual health plans and Medicaid — is expected to dramatically increase the number of people without health insurance if enacted into law.

“What protection is Obamacare if there is no health care plan to purchase in your state?” House Speaker Paul Ryan said, referring to insurance companies’ decisions to drop coverage in some states. “We can put this collapsing law behind us and this failed experiment. “

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said the measure’s tax cuts would create a massive transfer of wealth from working families to the rich. Addressing moderate Republicans in a fiery floor speech, she said that if they vote for the bill, “You have every provision of this bill tattooed to your forehead. You will glow in the dark on this one.”

After the vote, protesters outside the Capitol building yelled, “Shame, shame!” at members of Congress walking down the front steps.

Six weeks earlier, Republicans suffered an embarrassing setback when Ryan had to abruptly cancel a vote on the bill amid opposition from the party’s conservative and moderate wings. Ryan and Trump initially said they were giving up for the time being, but the White House soon resumed pressuring for a vote as Trump neared his 100th day in office.

The bill faces a potentially harder road to winning passage in the Senate.

“This bill is going nowhere fast in the United States Senate,” said Democratic Senate leader, Chuck Schumer of New York.

“Rather than trying to pass a different version of the same Trumpcare bill that would mean higher costs and less care, Senate Republicans should refuse to follow their House colleagues over a cliff, reject repeal, and work with Democrats to improve our healthcare system in a bipartisan way.”