Health Reform "Repeal and Replace" Bills Approved by House
The House of Representatives has voted to repeal the ACA, by a largely party-line vote of 245 to 189. The House subsequently passed H. Res. 9, to instruct four House committees (Education and the Workforce, Energy and Commerce, Judiciary, and Ways and Means) to report legislation to replace the law with provisions that achieve a number of objectives, including: removing excessive regulations and wasteful spending, decreasing health insurance premiums through increased competition and choice, medical liability system reform, increasing the number of insured Americans, increasing state flexibility to administer Medicaid, and encouraging personal responsibility for health care coverage and costs, among others. As previously reported, the President has said he would not sign the repeal bill if it ever reached his desk (which is unlikely in light of Democratic control of the Senate). In his State of the Union address on January 25, 2011, President Obama offered to work with lawmakers to “improve this law by making care better or more affordable.”
