US House of Representatives votes to repeal Obama health law

The new Republican majority in the USA’s House of Representatives late Wednesday fulfilled a campaign pledge and passed a bill to repeal the federal health care law, in a symbolic rebuke of President Barak Obama's signature legislative accomplishment. The vote was 245 to 189. However, Senate Democrats, who retain a majority in the upper house, have said that they will not take up the measure.

"The repeal attempt is certain to founder as the Democratic-controlled Senate won't take up the measure. Even if by some chance any form of significant health care repeal legislation passed both chambers of Congress, the president wouldn't hesitate to use his veto pen,” said the Wall Street Journal. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Republican, Kentucky.) said after the Wednesday vote that he would pressure Majority Leader Harry Reid (Democrat, Nevada) to bring the matter up for a vote in the Senate. Republicans have repeatedly denied the vote is simply a political gesture, insisting that they were reacting to the American public, which they said is widely opposed to the health-care law, reported the WSJ.

The move fulfilled a pledge Republicans made to voters in the 2010 campaign for a swift vote to undo what they called the “job-killing” measure (The Pharma Letter January 10).