Trump wins round 1 against Obamacare
4 VOTES: CLOSE VICTORY IN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES New Bill will certainly need substantial revisions if it is to pass the Senate.
US President Donald Trump extracted a much-needed victory from Congress on Thursday as Republicans narrowly pushed a Bill through the House of Representatives repealing the landmark health reforms of his predecessor.
The vote of 217-213 could hardly have been closer in the Republican-controlled chamber, highlighting the concerns of many in Trump’s party who fear the Bill could strip millions of Americans of their coverage and send costs skyrocketing.
Although the vote brings Republicans a step closer to fulfilling the singular campaign pledge that has united the party in recent years – and helped Trump win the White House – the Bill will almost certainly need substantial revisions if it is to pass the Senate.
Trump nevertheless proclaimed victory over the Affordable Care Act, expressing optimism that the controversial new measure will ultimately become law.
“We’re going to get this passed through the Senate. I feel so confident,” he declared in the White House Rose Garden, surrounded by key Republican lawmakers, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, who shepherded the Bill to passage.
Hours later, in New York for a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Trump was still boasting of his party’s “big day”.
“We passed it by a few votes,” he confided to Turnbull.
It is a conservative dream years in the making: ditching Barack Obama’s healthcare law, which Republicans blame for sending insurance premiums soaring while reducing options for millions.
Democrats counter that Obamacare helped 20 million Americans gain health coverage and saved thousands of lives by barring insurers from denying policies to people with pre-existing medical conditions.
Republicans, including Trump, have campaigned relentlessly on the pledge to dismantle the 2010 reforms. “A lot of us have been waiting seven years to kill off Obamacare,” Ryan said. –