(SitNews) Washington, D. C. - For the first time the Republican-led Congress has sent a measure to gut the Affordable Care Act to President Barack Obama's desk.

“This important vote by the House finally puts a bill on President Obama’s desk that guts Obamacare and also defunds Planned Parenthood,” House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) said in a prepared statement. “We have been working hard to get a bill on the President’s desk that forces him to confront the many failures of his healthcare law, while also denying taxpayer funds to groups who perform abortions. If the President vetoes this important legislation, it will further underscore the importance of electing a President this November who shares our American values and who will sign this critical bill into law.”

With the passage by the House today, the bill will now be sent to President Obama. It is expected that the President will veto the bill repealing the Affordable Care Act law, also known as Obamacare. Scalise, who helped devise a plan to use an unusual procedure known as "budget reconciliation" to pass the bill, acknowledged it was a symbolic gesture.

Congressman Don Young (R-AK) agreed. "Today the House, with the Senate, voted to repeal Obamacare. We know that the President will probably veto it."

H.R. 3762, the Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015, passed by the Senate and House today, dismantles major provisions of the Affordable Care Act, including the elimination of the individual mandate and employer mandate penalties, stopping any taxpayer bailout of insurance companies, and repealing a myriad of burdensome taxes – the Cadillac tax, the medical device tax, the small business, and others.

Further, the legislation blocks federal funding for Planned Parenthood while redirecting funds to community health centers for women’s health. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, H.R. 3762 will save the American tax payer $516 billion over the next 10 years.

The U.S. House of Representatives with a vote of 240-181, approved H.R. 3762, a bill to repeal what has been called by Republicans as the most egregious provisions and taxes at the heart of the President’s healthcare law, including penalties for the individual and employee mandate.

Alaska Congressman Don Young (R) shared his thoughts following the passage of H.R. 3762. Young said in a prepared statement, “For years, the Alaskan and American people have endured the detrimental impacts of the President’s sweeping healthcare takeover. You can keep your doctor, you can keep your healthcare plans, they said. Your premiums will be lower and your deductibles will go down. Well, not a single one of these promises came true. Alaskans opposed the law long before the Obama Administration mischievously shoved it down our throats and they continue to ask Congress for relief from this overbearing and unworkable law."

Young said, “While those supporting this awful law are entitled to their own opinion, they aren’t entitled to their own facts. In Alaska, the damage is real. We have the some of the highest premium increases in the nation – skyrocketing by 30% in 2015 and 40% in 2016. Alaskans face higher out of pocket costs, less access to care and even fewer choices."

“Fulfilling a longstanding commitment to the American people, today we send legislation to repeal this broken law to the president’s desk. No matter his decision, which will ultimately favor his legislative baby and ignore the American people, we will continue to work to make a full repeal a reality and set the stage for a new president in 2017," said Young.

Moving forward, Young said he is focused on empowering people to make their own healthcare choices and restoring a level of financial feasibility for healthcare. "By achieving common sense, patient centered reforms," Young said he believes American families, patients, doctors and small businesses will have the relief and flexibility they deserve.

On the Web:

Full Text of the Bill
Text of the Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr3762/text

Edited by Mary Kauffman, SitNews

Source of News:

Office of Rep. Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana)
www.scalise.house.gov

Office of Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska)

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