In a 242-186, vote the House fell short of the two-thirds needed to pass a measure Tuesday overriding the president’s veto of a bill designed to dismantle Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood for a year.
Ahead of the vote, Republican House Speaker [crscore]Paul Ryan[/crscore] said regardless of the outcome, the party will continue its fight against the Affordable Care Act.
“We have now forged a path — that is a clear path— to repealing Obamacare without 60 votes in the Senate. So what we are proving today is if we have a Republican president next year, we will repeal Obamacare. And we will replace Obamacare,” he said at his morning press conference.
Republicans have been highly critical of the Affordable Care Act since it has raised premiums for most Americans, increased costs for small businesses and caused many to lose access their doctors since its implementation.
Since its passage, the GOP controlled Congress has attempted to dismantle the bill 62 times, successfully sending a bill to the president’s desk just once.
“Frankly, this health care law has hurt too many Americans,” House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman [crscore]Kevin Brady[/crscore] said on the House floor Tuesday. “We know now the path to repeal. We know how to remove the law’s mandates, tax hikes and slush funds.”
Congress passed the Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act in early January, using a budgetary tool called reconciliation, which requires just a majority vote in the Senate and allows for an unlimited number of amendments. The legislation would have eliminated the individual and employer mandates and killed the Cadillac tax and medical device tax — which were recently delayed for two years under a provision in the omnibus spending bill.
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