Yet the legislation, passed under special Senate budget rules known as reconciliation, is still a significant accomplishment for Republicans, according to Politico. 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.
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The Senate passed the Restoring Americans Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act (HR.3672) late Thursday, 52 to 47. Senate Democrats have managed to block over 60 previous Republican attempts at repealing Obamacare, according to Reuters. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., and Susan Collins, R-Me., were the only Republicans to vote against the legislation.
Democratic candidate and Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders did not vote. He called the proposal a “waste of time” this week.
The legislation still needs a vote in the House of Representatives, as it differs from a House version passed in October that concentrated on repealing the PPACA’s mandates for individuals to buy health insurance and for larger companies to offer health plans to employees. It would also roll back the expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare, which 30 states have adopted. “To protect patients from outsider-imposed limits on their access to medical care, the entire law must be repealed, something that could become more hard if the President actually signs this budget reconciliation bill into law”.
The White House has already said that President Barack Obama will veto the legislation once it reached his desk, and Republicans do not have the two-thirds majority needed to override that veto. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) told the National Journal.
“The nine-page reconciliation bill is a serious strike against the financial infrastructure of the Affordable Care Act”, Twila Brase, president and co-founder of CCHF, said.
Johnson says millions of Americans had their insurance policies canceled after Obama promised that if they liked their health plans, they could keep them.
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House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said in an address on Thursday that repealing Obamacare would remain the GOP’s top priority even if this year’s legislation is killed.
