Washington: The US House of Representatives on Thursday narrowly approved a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, handing Republican President Donald Trump a victory that could prove short-lived as the healthcare legislation heads for a likely battle in the Senate.
But despite holding the White House and controlling both houses of Congress, Republicans have found overturning Obamacare politically perilous, partly because of voter fears, loudly expressed at constituents' town-hall meetings, that many people would lose their health insurance as a result.
As Republicans crossed over the vote threshold to pass the bill, Democrats in the House began singing "Na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye," a rowdy suggestion that Republicans will lose seats in the 2018 congressional elections because of their vote.
Within an hour of the vote, Trump celebrated with House lawmakers in the White House Rose Garden.
"I went through two years of campaigning and I'm telling you, no matter where I went, people were suffering so badly with the ravages of Obamacare," Trump said. "We are going to get this passed through the Senate. I am so confident."
"It could change a little bit. It could be maybe even better. It's a very good bill right now. Premiums are going to come down substantially. Deductibles are going to come down," he said.
PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS
The Republican bill passed on Thursday would allow states to opt out of those provisions. While insurers could not deny people insurance because of pre-existing conditions, they would be allowed to charge them as much as they want.
In an analysis released on Thursday, healthcare consultancy and research firm Avalere Health said the Republican bill would cover only 5% of enrollees with pre-existing conditions in the individual insurance markets.
In a push to pass the bill before members leave on Friday for a week in their home districts, the House voted before the bill was assessed by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, which estimates its cost and effect on insurance rolls.
On Thursday, Aetna shares closed up 0.8%, Humana shares rose 2.2%, and UnitedHealth Group shares were up 0.9%. Cigna shares fell 0.2%. HCA Holdings Inc shares rose 0.7% percent and Tenet Healthcare Corp shares closed up 1.8 percent.
Some analysts said the modest share moves reflected the fact that the final version of the bill had more funding in it that would help insurers and hospitals.
CHALLENGES AHEAD
In a sign of the challenges ahead for the legislation, nearly every major medical group, including the American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association, and the AARP advocacy group for older Americans, strongly opposed the Republican bill. Many said last-minute amendments further eroded protection for the most vulnerable groups, including the sick and elderly.
"I've already made clear that I don't support the House bill as currently constructed because I continue to have concerns that this bill does not do enough to protect Ohio's Medicaid expansion population," said Republican Senator Rob Portman.
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