Earlier this month, the House of Representatives approved H.R. 596, a bill to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 and restore the laws as if the health reform provisions had never been enacted. The bill also directs the House Committees on Education and the Workforce, Energy and Commerce, Judiciary, and Ways and Means to develop alternative legislation to, among other things, lower health care premiums, ensure access to affordable health coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, and reform.  The President has promised to veto the bill if it reaches his desk.