U.S. House Passes Health Care Overhaul Legislation, But Senate Likely To Pass Very Different Bill

The U.S. House last week passed the American Health Care Act (AHCA), which repeals and replaces large portions of President Barack Obama’s 2010 health care bill, often called Obamacare. The AHCA eliminates or delays several tax increases that the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) had opposed. These provisions include delaying the so-called “Cadillac” tax on high-end insurance plans until 2026 and eliminating the sales tax on health insurance and the medical device tax. 

The AHCA legislation passed the House on a 217-213 vote. (Click here to see how your member of Congress voted.) 

Leaders in the U.S. Senate have said that they plan to write their own version of the legislation, but have offered no timeline for doing so. That means final passage of repeal and replace of Obamacare is still far off. As Morning Consult explained, “If the Senate passes its own Obamacare repeal bill or makes any changes to the AHCA, the House would need to pass that version, or members of both chambers would need to reconcile their differences through a conference committee, before final legislation can be sent to the White House for the president’s signature.” Additionally, the legislation faces a procedural parliamentary challenge in the Senate. Senators likely will need to make additional alterations to satisfy chamber rules and to generate the support needed to achieve even a bare majority of 51 votes. (Most legislation in the Senate requires 60 votes to end debate before it can officially be voted on and passed with a simple majority of 51 votes, but because the ACA repeal and replace effort is being accomplished under Senate budget reconciliation instructions that were agreed to in January, the Senate can skip the first step and prepare the legislation for a straight up or down vote.) 

Stay tuned to Connecting the Dots for updates on this important legislation. To learn more about MSCI’s principles for health care reform, visit our advocacy page.