US Republican-controlled House passes bill to repeal Obamacare

UNCERTAIN FATE IN SENATE

The bill is now sent to the Senate where it is widely expected to face fierce partisan fights and significant revisions.

First, the House voting was in high stakes since the latest version of the bill emerged only days ago and the Congressional Budget Office has yet to analyze its costs and impact on people's ability to obtain insurance.

"Do you believe in what is in this bill?" House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday."Some of you have said ... well, they'll fix it in the Senate. But you have every provision of this bill tattoos on your forehead you will glow in the dark on this one."

Second, similar with the situation in the House, no Senate Democrats are expected to support the bill. Therefore, the 52 Republicans in the Senate could afford to lose only two votes to have the bill passed. Vice President, acting as the Senate Speaker, would cast a vote in the event of a tie.

Third, if the Senate does approve its own version of health care bill, it must reconcile the differences with the House version to compose a compromise package. It is unsure if the Senate-made changes can garner enough support from House Republicans.

REPLACING OBAMACARE

Under the latest version of the House bill, all 50 US states will be allowed to apply for waivers from key Obamacare provisions and set their own standards.

The bill will provide extra 8 billion dollars over five years for high-risk pools aimed at helping states and insurers deal with high-cost patients. Including the additional money, a total of 138 billion dollars will be funded for the high-risk pools over the next decade.

The bill will also allow states to permit insurers to charge more for pre-existing conditions, terminate tax penalties for individuals who don't buy insurance coverage and larger employers who don't offer coverage, replace Obamacare premium subsidies with tax credits instead.

Tax increases on people earning more than 250,000 dollars a year and a range of industry groups including health insurers, drug makers, medical device manufacturers and tanning bed salons will also come to an end under the House bill.

In contrast, elder or sick Americans would be charged more under the new bill. Under Obamacare, insurers can't charge a 64-year-old more than three times as much as it does a 21-year-old. The new bill would let insurers charge older customer five times as much. States could also opt out of Obamacare's required set of benefits or allow insurers again to charge some sick patients more for coverage in certain circumstances.

However, the bill would keep in place a key provision of Obamacare allowing younger Americans to stay on their parents' health plans until age 26.