After much debate, the House of Representatives has voted to repeal the health care law. The next step will be for the Senate to have a vote about whether or not to repeal the health care law. If it passes in the Senate, the next step is for the President of the United States to sign it. In other words, today’s vote might be considered a first step by some, but is not a final decision.
The Affordable Care Act, which has also been called “Obamacare” has been considered controversial since it was first signed into law. There have been several court cases, some completed, some still in progress, that questioned if certain parts of the Affordable Care Act were unconstitutional. The requirement that all Americans purchase health insurance by 2014 has been the topic of much discussion.
Today, the House of Representatives voted to repeal the health care law. All 242 House Republicans voted to repeal it, and three House Democrats also voted to repeal the law. Later this week, the House of Representatives will put together committees that will work on creating a bill that will replace what they just voted to repeal. It can be expected that the new bill will remove the requirement for all Americans to buy health insurance, and will also affect Medicare Advantage.
This debate went on for two days, before the vote was taken. Most Democrats have been arguing that the American people have already received some benefits as a part of the Affordable Care Act, and that repealing the law would have a negative affect on many people. It has been argued that the repeal places control of health care back into the hands of insurance companies, which is also not a favorable situation for Americans. Republicans have been arguing that there is a need for changes to health care, but that the Affordable Care Act isn’t the way to make those changes. Many feel that the Medicare related changes that were a part of the health care law would be too expensive for their state to be able to deal with.
It has been said that today’s vote was a symbolic one. This is because in order for the health care laws to actually be repealed, the Senate must also vote to repeal it. The House of Representatives is currently controlled by Republicans. The Senate, on the other hand, is currently controlled by Democrats. For this reason, it seems unlikely that the Senate will also vote to repeal the health care law. What happens if they do? Then the bill goes to The President of the United States, who has the power of veto. He also has the power to decide if he wants to sign a bill into law, or to decide not to do so. Since President Obama is in favor of the Affordable Care Act, it seems unlikely that he will choose to sign a bill that attempts to repeal it. However, one cannot know for certain what the final outcome will be.
Image by Cliff on Flickr