The House of Representatives passed the Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act which Rep. Chuck Fleischmann said would repeal Obamacare, defund Planned Parenthood and reduce the national debt by $516 billion.
Congressman Fleischmann said,“For the first time, a bill fully repealing Obamacare will be sent to the President’s desk. In addition to repealing the President’s crippling healthcare law this bill will also reduce our nation deficit by over $500 billion and completely defund Planned Parenthood. It is now up to the President to decide to either listen to Congress and the American people or continue to try and govern through executive order.”
Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA-14) said, “By passing this legislation, we’re upholding our promise to put legislation stopping Obamacare on the president’s desk. This is the furthest the repeal effort has ever gone,” said Rep. Graves. “I hope the president thinks about the many Georgians who are suffering under his healthcare law and joins us in stopping its harmful effects – higher premiums, limited choice and the cancellation of millions of health insurance plans. If the president rejects this common sense approach and the will of Congress, this once again proves that we can and will repeal Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood – all we need is a new president who will sign the legislation into law. The fights for health care freedom and the right to life are far from over.”
He said, specifically, the Senate Amendment to H.R. 3762, the Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act, repeals key provisions of Obamacare, including the individual mandate, employer mandate, “Cadillac Tax” and medical device tax. Repealing these crucial mandates and provisions would essentially destroy Obamacare. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that it will reduce the deficit by $516 billion. Additionally, H.R. 3762 places a one year moratorium on federal funding of Planned Parenthood and redirects the funds to community health centers that do not perform abortions.
Although the House passed H.R. 3762 in October, the Senate made several changes to the bill’s language, which required the House to pass the updated version. The bill will now be sent to the president.
H.R. 3762 was passed using the budget reconciliation process, which allows the Senate to bypass the normal 60-vote threshold required to bring legislation to the floor.