Health Care Repeal Nears Vote
Washington (CNN) — The House of Representatives plans to vote Wednesday on whether to repeal President Barack Obama’s controversial health care overhaul, a priority for the House’s new Republican majority.
The House is expected to favor repeal, but the Democratic-controlled Senate is highly unlikely to follow suit. Even if they did, President Barack Obama would almost certainly veto such a bill.
Most Republicans have acknowledged the virtual impossibility of an outright repeal but have said they will try to defund portions of the measure or eliminate specific provisions in the months ahead.
GOP leaders started a formal debate on a measure to repeal the overhaul Tuesday. House Republicans are also set to instruct various House committees to craft alternatives to the law.
It is time to repeal this “job-stifling, cost-increasing, freedom-limiting law,” declared Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas.
Obama and top Democrats expressed strong support for the measure Tuesday. The president said in a statement that the health care law’s many benefits needed to be maintained.
