Senate Passes Bill to Repeal Pieces of Obamacare

The Senate passed legislation Thursday to repeal key parts of Obamacare.

The measure passed 52-47 and included more conservative ideas than the House bill.

The legislation removes the federal government’s authority to run the health care exchange, guts many of the subsidies, removes the expansion of Medicaid, and removes the penalties imposed on individuals who forego health insurance.

According to The Hill:

It cuts funding for the Prevention and Public Health Fund and eliminates risk adjustment programs from insurance companies that lose money because of the law.

The Senate bill also repeals the over-the-counter medicine tax, the prescription drug tax, an annual fee on health insurers and the tax on indoor tanning services. It reduces the threshold of healthcare costs that can be deducted from 10 percent to 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income.

The House bill eliminates the individual and employer mandates, the Cadillac tax on expensive insurance plans and the medical device tax.

There was concern that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Mike Lee (R-AZ) wouldn’t vote for the legislation because they thought the House bill didn’t go far enough.

All three senators ended up voting for the legislation after Mitch McConnell amended it.

The amended bill needs to be approved by the House before it goes to the White House.