Health-care reform: How Democrats plan to crash House GOP's repeal party
| Washington
After a week鈥檚 pause in response to the Tucson shootings, House Republicans are moving quickly toward a vote Wednesday to repeal President Obama鈥檚 signature health-care reform legislation.
The move to repeal the legislation 鈥� a key pledge of most GOP congressional campaigns 鈥� is on track to pass the House on a near party-line vote, then grind to a halt. Senate majority leader Harry Reid has already signaled that he won鈥檛 take a House repeal bill to the floor. Even if it cleared the Senate, the White House has promised to veto it.
鈥淚t isn鈥檛 a serious legislative effort,鈥� said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs at Tuesday鈥檚 press briefing. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 going anywhere.鈥�
Still, House Democrats and the Obama administration are mounting a strong, 11th -hour bid to shift the outcome. On Tuesday, the Department of Health and Human Services released a report that estimated that up to 129 million Americans have preexisting conditions that could deny them insurance coverage, if consumer protections in the new law were repealed.
At the same time, Reps. Henry Waxman of California and Frank Pallone of New Jersey, top Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, released data on the impact of repeal on each congressional district.
'Targeting new members'
鈥淲e鈥檙e especially targeting new members who have no idea what the consequences of repeal will be for their constituents,鈥� says Mr. Waxman, the outgoing chairman.
But the House GOP鈥檚 87 new members 鈥� who accounted for all but nine of the House freshmen 鈥� didn鈥檛 appear inclined to shift ground. GOP leaders gave their freshmen a prominent role in Tuesday鈥檚 opening debate on repeal.
Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R) of Pennsylvania called the bill 鈥渦naffordable.鈥� Rep. Steve Womack (R) of Arkansas dubbed it not a 鈥渕eaningful, affordable or workable solution.鈥� Rep. Nan Hayworth (R) of New York criticized the bill鈥檚 failure to take up the 鈥渦nconscionable cost of defensive medicine鈥� by not including tort reform.
In response, House Democrats are highlighting the human costs of repeal. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi Tuesday convened what she dubbed the only 鈥渉earing鈥� on health-care repeal, including citizens invited to explain how repeal of new consumer protections could hurt themselves or members of their family.
鈥淭he most powerful arguments for keeping health-care reform won鈥檛 be heard on the House floor,鈥� said House Democratic whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland.
That鈥檚 why opponents of repeal are focusing on the new data, released Tuesday, in a bid to sway votes 鈥� either Wednesday, when the repeal vote comes to the floor, or in the 2012 campaign, when lawmakers again face voters. For example: the Waxman report estimates that 128,000 to 324,000 constituents in freshman Representative Hayworth鈥檚 district, including up to 43,000 children, could be denied coverage by insurance companies on the basis of preexisting conditions, if health-care reform were repealed. In addition, some 6,400 seniors could face higher prescription drug costs and 13,000 could lose health insurance coverage.
Vote seen as start of a process
House GOP leaders see Wednesday鈥檚 vote as the start of a process. As important as the repeal vote will be instructions to committees to begin work on replacing this health-care law with a bill that starts lowering health-care costs and increasing access, said House majority leader Eric Cantor (R) of Virginia at a briefing with reporters Tuesday.
鈥淭he reality is that the ObamaCare bill did not lower costs,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t will cost small businesspeople money. It will, in many cases, preclude the hiring of people.鈥�
He challenged Senate Democrats to take up the repeal bill. 鈥淚f Harry Reid is so confident that the members of that body are where he is, then let鈥檚 see a vote in that body,鈥� he said.
If repeal fails, Republicans have another option of slowing the pace of reform by attempting to rein in funding. All spending bills start in the House, and compromise bills require House approval.
If the Senate does not take up the repeal bill, Cantor said, 鈥渨e鈥檒l do everything we can to delay and defund provisions of this bill until we can get a discussion going to replace it.鈥�
