Washington—After years of pledging to repeal Obamacare, House Republicans will vote on the American Health Care Act (H.R. 1628) today. The bill would partially repeal and partially amend Obamacare, while leaving its core regulatory architecture in place. Heritage Action released the following statement from Chief Executive Officer Michael A. Needham:
"As part of their Better Way agenda, Republicans said 'Obamacare must be fully repealed so we can start over and take a new approach.' The American Health Care Act fails that simple test in dramatic fashion. As a result, the core regulatory architecture of Obamacare will remain in place and premiums will remain too high.
"Throughout this process, conservatives acted in good faith to deliver on longstanding campaign promises. Unfortunately, it is now apparent that congressional leadership and some in the White House hid behind faux procedural concerns to avoid the substantive divides in the Republican conference over maintaining Obamacare's regulatory architecture.
"Late today, members of Congress will be forced to vote on one of the most consequential pieces of legislation they will ever vote on. It is an awful bill that will impact millions of Americans' lives and is opposed by nearly every serious conservative health care analyst. This legislation is a policy, process and political disaster. Voting no is the only defendable position."
Heritage Action opposes H.R. 1628 and will include it as a key vote on our legislative scorecard.