Jan. 12 Is the Date for Health-Law Repeal Vote

The long-anticipated vote on repealing the health-overhaul law is coming next week in the House.

It’ll be a symbolic move, since Democrats still control the Senate and the White House, but an important one for House Republicans who want to express their discontent with the overhaul passed last March.

An aide to incoming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Monday that Republicans plan to hold the vote Jan. 12. By making the health vote one of their first acts in the majority, House Republicans want to signal they’re making good on campaign promises to erode Democrats’ most ambitious legislative achievement. The public remains divided in its support for the law, and early pieces of it designed to win over voters have failed to boost its popularity.

The overhaul “failed to lower costs as the president promised that it would and does not allow people to keep the care they currently have if they like it,” said John Murray, deputy chief of staff for Rep. Cantor of Virginia. “That is why the House will repeal it next week.”

Supporters of the law are hoping that their months-long campaign to tout the law’s benefits for consumers will finally gain traction as Republicans stage their repeal vote.

On Monday, five top Senate Democrats sent incoming House Speaker John Boehner a letter warning that the move threatens to take away a 50% discount on brand-name drugs for seniors who fall into a coverage gap known as the doughnut hole. The provision took effect Saturday.

“If House Republicans move forward with a repeal of the health-care law that threatens consumer benefits like the ‘donut hole’ fix, we will block it in the Senate,” wrote the group of Democrats, which included Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. “This proposal deserves a chance to work. It is too important to be treated as collateral damage in a partisan mission to repeal health care.”

Although House Republicans campaigned on a pledge of repealing and replacing the law, next week’s vote will only cover the repeal part.

After the repeal vote, Republicans’ next move is to try to choke off funding to implement the law, particularly its least popular provisions. Those include funding for Internal Revenue Service agents to enforce the new requirement that most Americans carry insurance or pay a fee.

Republicans also want to block a planned expansion of Medicaid and any provisions that can be viewed as indirectly funding coverage for abortion services. They have more leverage in this battle because House Republicans will gain new control over the appropriations process.

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