Late Thursday evening, the U.S. Senate voted 52-47 in favor of the Republican-backed bill, the Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act (H.R. 3762), which repeals parts of the Affordable Care Act and cuts millions of dollars from the Planned Parenthood budget, according to the Associated Press. Yesterday’s bipartisan Senate vote to repeal the 40 percent tax demonstrates that repeal of the Cadillac tax is a powerful lever that Republicans can use to persuade Democrats to repeal the entire law. Two Republicans voted against the legislation, and Sen.
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The Senate bill strengthened a previously passed House bill, H.R. 3762, which was also aimed at repealing Obamacare. Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is now challenging Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, was the only senator to miss the vote. Although an Obama veto is probable, the bill may have better odds of passage if a Republican is elected into the Oval Office next year.
Additionally, the bill includes language defunding Planned Parenthood.
It zeros out the penalties on individuals who do not buy insurance and employers who do not offer health insurance. It would also roll back the expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare, which 30 states have adopted.
The bill was a stronger version of one originally passed by the House.
Obamacare is an expensive disaster that’s leaving consumers with fewer choices and higher costs, while trying to force taxpayers to bail out health insurance companies that aren’t realizing the profits they were once promised by the Obama administration. Now, with Republicans in charge, the party should finally be able to put a repeal bill in front of President Obama – a long held campaign promise.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, asked if the chamber would simply take up the Senate bill, said: ‘Why wouldn’t we?’
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“We think this problem is so urgent that, next year, we are going to unveil a plan to replace every word of Obamacare”, Ryan said at the Library of Congress.
