Bill to undo ‘Obamacare’ gets approval after 18-hour debate
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REPUBLICANS in the United States cleared the first hurdle in their plan for the massive health care system overhaul backed by President Donald Trump, despite concerns among Democratic lawmakers, hospitals and insurers about its unknown costs and impact on coverage.
The House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee approved the bill along party lines yesterday after debating the draft legislation for nearly 18 hours.
The chamber’s Energy and Commerce committee continued its own marathon session after Republican leaders earlier this week unveiled the plan, which would undo much of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare.
Republicans, who control the House and the Senate, are eying mid-April for passage of the bill.
“This is a historic step, an important step in the repeal of Obamacare,” said Republican Representative Kevin Brady, chairman of the House Ways and Means committee, after it voted 23-16 for the measure.
The legislation would end the financial penalty for not owning health insurance, reverse most Obamacare taxes, introduce a smaller system of tax credits based on age rather than income, and overhaul Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor.
The American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association and other hospital groups have come out against the bill. The proposed changes to Medicaid have weighed on shares of hospitals, particularly Community Health Systems and Tenet Healthcare Corp, as investors worry about less government reimbursement.
Obamacare also enabled 20 million previously uninsured people to obtain coverage. About half came from a Medicaid expansion that the new bill would end.
America’s Health Insurance Plans, which represents Anthem Inc and other insurers, said tax credits for the individual insurance market did not go far enough.
The House Ways and Means committee, which was looking at the tax-related provisions of the bill, made no changes, despite dozens of attempts by Democrats to introduce amendments.
The fast-emerging disorder around the bill, Trump’s first legislative test, follows the chaos triggered by his travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority nations that was later revised.
Trump and fellow Republicans campaigned last year on a pledge to dismantle Obamacare, the signature domestic policy achievement of Democratic former President Barack Obama. They have called it government overreach that had ruined the more than US$3 trillion health care system.
Democrats denounce the bill as a gift to the rich and say informed debate on it is impossible without knowing its cost.
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