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 Defying a White House veto threat, lawmakers voted 239-186 on a
measure to eliminate the complex web of federal subsidies, insurance
reforms, taxes and regulations that have extended health coverage to
millions of Americans since the Affordable Care Act became law in
2010.
The action now moves to the Senate, where Republican Senator Ted
Cruz, a Texas conservative, introduced legislation for full repeal
on Monday.
The influential conservative group Heritage Action for America
called the House vote "the beginning of a multi-month effort" to
send a full repeal legislation to President Barack Obama's desk.
The White House threatened to veto the House bill, saying it would
take away critical benefits from middle-class families and increase
the federal deficit.
Before the vote, Obama met with 10 people who had benefited from his
signature domestic policy. He told reporters the law was working
"better than intended."
Supporters of repeal are short of the two-thirds majority needed in
both chambers of Congress to override a presidential veto.
The House has voted repeatedly to repeal, defund or dismantle
Obamacare.
But on Tuesday, Republicans and Democrats could not agree on how
many times. Republican aides said the new vote brought the total to
67, including eight votes for full repeal. Democrats said there had
been 56 votes to repeal or undermine the law.
The House's second anti-Obamacare vote of 2015 was billed by
Republican lawmakers as a way to give party freshmen a crack at
repealing the law. Last month, lawmakers voted to scale back an
Obamacare provision requiring employers to provide workers with
health insurance.
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Tuesday's bill also directed House committees to work toward
Republican legislation to replace Obamacare, a goal that has eluded
the party repeatedly up to now.
Lawmakers said new legislation would be necessary in light of a U.S.
Supreme Court case that could devastate Obamacare by denying federal
insurance subsidies to millions of consumers in as many as 37 states
served by the federal website, HealthCare.gov. A ruling is expected
in June.
Obamacare advocates said Republicans were trying to persuade the
Supreme Court to vote against the law by promoting a legislative
goal they could not actually achieve.
(Reporting by David Morgan, Roberta Rampton and Susan Cornwell;
Editing by Emily Stephenson, Sandra Maler and Peter Cooney)
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