The U.S. House of
Representatives approved a bill on Thursday to repeal major parts of Obamacare
and replace it with a Republican healthcare plan, handing President Donald
Trump his biggest legislative victory but setting up a tough fight in the
Senate.
With the 217-213
vote, Republicans obtained just enough support to push the legislation through
the House, sending it to the Senate for consideration. No Democrats voted for
the bill.
The bill's passage
represented a step toward fulfilling a top Trump campaign pledge and a
seven-year Republican quest to dismantle Democratic former President Barack
Obama's signature healthcare law.
But the effort now
faces new hurdles in the Senate, where the Republicans have only a 52-seat
majority in the 100-seat chamber and where just a few Republican defections
could sink the bill.
Thursday's vote was
also a political victory for House Speaker Paul Ryan, demonstrating his ability
to pull together a fractured Republican caucus after two failed attempts this
year to win consensus on the healthcare legislation.
Democrats are hoping
that the Republicans' vote to repeal Obamacare will spark a voter backlash in
next year's midterm congressional elections.
Some 20 million
Americans gained healthcare coverage under Obama's 2010 Affordable Care Act,
which has recently gathered support in public opinion polls. But Republicans
have long attacked it, seeing the program as government overreach and
complaining that it drives up healthcare costs.
The Republican bill,
known formally as the American Health Care Act, aims to repeal most Obamacare
taxes, including a penalty for not buying health insurance. It would slash
funding for Medicaid, the program that provides insurance for the poor, and
roll back much of Medicaid's expansion.