When President Barack Obama decided to take on the United States Health Care system, the Republicans were displeased to say the least. With the two major parties completely divided on the matter, Obama pressed on until a compromise was finally met where he was able to get a mild version of the reform he had in mind passed.
The reform allowed for children to stay under their parents’ health care insurance until they turn 26, which came as a blessing considering the rising health care rates and the low economy. Also under Obama’s health reform, individuals could not be denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions.
But now the Republicans have the majority in the House of Representatives. As part of the campaign platforms of many congressmen and women, a repeal of the health care reform was promised.
Now, the new leaders of the House are announcing that they are soon planning to vote on the potential repeal of Obama’s reform.
The new Speaker of the House, John Boehner of Ohio, is planning to open the floor to debate on the matter on Tuesday and then bring about the voting on the issue on Wednesday.
Boehner said of his desire to repeal the reform, “Repealing the job crushing health care law is critical to boosting small business job creation and growing the economy.”
To discredit Boehner’s claims, the Congressional Budget Office conducted a study on the economy and concluded that if the reform is repealed, the result would actually be an increase of nearly a quarter of a trillion dollars to the national debt in the next decade.
While the majority in the House means that the repeal is more than likely to be successful in the House, the nearly evenly split Senate will prove to be a nearly indestructible obstacle.
With sixty votes needed in the Senate, Republicans would need to persuade thirteen of the fifty-three Democrats to abandon the reform that they pressed so hard for.
As a result, Boehner and his party will more than likely be forced to simply try to take back some of the funding allocated for the programs under the new health care system.
Some Democrats have come out and said that when it comes to certain programs that have shown to be too costly, they are willing to discuss a possible defunding.
While the repeal of the reform is more than likely going to prove to be impossible, Republicans can still hope to cut down some of the aspects of the system economically.
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