Congress sends health law repeal to Obama for first time

But it won’t stay there long; President Barack Obama has vowed to veto any Republican bill that guts his signature health care law, a five-year-and-counting effort.

Obama will veto the bill, and so the ultimate outcome will be the same as the many previous GOP attempts to repeal “Obamacare“.

The House passed Wednesday a measure that repeals elements of Obamacare and denies Planned Parenthood federal funds, two policy priorities Republicans have struggled to move through Congress. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, said in a blog post Monday the vote would “set a tone that represents a better path for our country”. Certain to be vetoed, the bill was seen as a symbolic gesture.

Yet nothing will give Senate Republicans the votes they need to force an override, meaning that their bill will get no further than the Resolute Desk.

President Obama said in early December he would veto the bill.

The legislation, HR3762, passed the Senate past year under special rules protecting it from Democratic obstruction, so it goes straight to the White House.

“That’s going to be an important signal that you can do big things like this and all that’s missing is a president who is willing to sign it”, Scalise said in an interview Wednesday.

Using this budget reconciliation process to stop taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood is the preferred strategy of the March for Life and Susan B. Anthony List, as well as the National Right to Life Committee, the nation’s oldest and largest pro-life organization.

It also would end taxes the law imposed to cover its costs. This irresponsible bill would repeal key provisions of the Affordable Care Act and defund Planned Parenthood. Democrats criticized the resolution as harmful to women’s health and to the well-being of Americans who gained health care coverage under Obamacare.

The Senate bill, H.R. 3762, Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015, was the first ACA repeal act to make it through the Senate, though House Republicans have consistently voted to repeal all or parts of the ACA.

Rep. Dave Brat, R-Richmond, said it’s still a victory. As an alternative, she has previously supported legislation that would allow individuals to purchase insurance across state lines and allow businesses to pool together in order to purchase more affordable coverage for employees.