Obama vetoes bill to repeal signature health care law

He noted that 12 of the 23 healthcare co-ops established under Obamacare have failed, leaving more than 500,000 Americans scrambling to find health coverage.

He added, “Many conservatives will be placated to some degree by the fact that Republicans finally forced the president to act on a repeal measure”.

“Putting this bill on Obama’s desk is five years overdue”. Obama has touted the act as one of his greatest presidential accomplishments, so it was not surprising to see that the president vetoed measures to repeal the act. “Most disturbing, the head of the association representing Texas Community Health Centers said they did not have the capacity to absorb those displaced patients”.

The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the bill repealing the health care law. “I’m nearly embarrassed to get up here and discuss this legislation and believe that its sponsors really think that it’s going to become law”, Rep. Charles Rangel, D-New York, said on the House floor before the vote.

In a lengthy message to Congress, Obama said repealing the law would reverse improvements made in the nation’s healthcare system. “Obamacare will be gone”.

The Senate passed the bill a year ago under special rules that protected it from a Democratic filibuster. The party lacks the two-thirds majority necessary to achieve that, however. It’s the first full session for the House following the March for Life. It’s no surprise that the president will reject another effort to dismantle his signature health care law. The government estimated over 9.1 million people were enrolled for healthcare through the program at the end of 2015. They could risk losing it under the GOP approach. Republicans have long promised a substitute, but have never produced one.

On Tuesday night before the vote, Speaker Paul Ryan told Fox News that he fully anticipates the president will veto the legislation. However, Ryan says that the House and Senate have no plans of dropping the issue.

Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Jonesboro, said in a statement, “In addition to repealing the most harmful portions of Obamacare, tonight’s vote also blocks federal funding for Planned Parenthood, which is still under investigation by U.S. House committees for the awful allegations against the organization that came to light previous year”.

196-c-19-(Mark Smith, AP White House correspondent)-“it is working”-AP White House Correspondent Mark Smith reports President Obama used his veto pen without fanfare”.