House passes Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare" or "ACA") Reform - Now the Senate Battle Begins

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill known as the American Health Care Act (the "House Bill") on Thursday to repeal major parts of the Affordable Care Act ("ACA") also known as Obamacare and replace it with a Republican authored plan. This is the first legislation approved since President Donald Trump came into office. It is widely perceived that there will be a major battle over this plan in the Senate. The vote of 217-213 was barely a majority. No Democrats voted for the bill with 20 Republicans also voting against. Republicans, including Trump, have been promising they would repeal the ACA as soon as possible so this campaign promise is being fulfilled. The House Bill will face major obstacles in the Senate, where the Republican majority is razor thin at 52 seats out of 100. The House Bill is seen as a victory for House Speaker Paul Ryan who had earlier failed to achieve majority support for a healthcare bill. The House Bill would repeal most Obamacare taxes, including the penalty for failing to purchase health insurance; it would reduce Medicaid funding for the poor, and roll back much of the ACA's expansion of Medicaid benefits. A central tenet of the ACA was the treatment of patients with pre-existing conditions. Under the ACA, insurers were forbidden from charging those patients higher rates. The House Bill allows states to dictate terms of policies sold within each state while reducing the rules implemented by the ACA. While insurers under the House Bill may not refuse patients insurance due to pre-existing conditions, they would be permitted to charge those patients more. The House Bill is a compromise on the pre-existing condition issue: the House Bill would add $8 billion over five years to help cover the cost for people with pre-existing conditions who could have difficulty paying the higher insurance costs. The ACA had required everyone to buy insurance or pay a penalty, that provision is eliminated in the House Bill.