By Jerry Geisel, Crain News Service
WASHINGTON (May 20, 2013) — For the third time, the U.S. House of Representatives has voted to repeal the healthcare reform law, but it again looks highly unlikely that the Democrat-controlled Senate will follow suit.
By a 229-195 margin, the House on May 16 approved the repeal measure, H.R. 45, introduced by Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.
However, it is almost certain the measure will not become law. It is unlikely to be considered by the Senate, where Democrats are in the majority.
Even if the Senate were to back repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the White House said this week that President Barack Obama would veto the bill.
"The last thing the Congress should do is refight old political battles and take a massive step backward by repealing basic protections that provide security for the middle class. Right now, the Congress needs to work together to focus on the economy and creating jobs," the White House said in a statement.
However, lawmakers on a bipartisan basis previously approved two measures repealing portions of the law. One would have required employers to provide lower-paid employees with company-paid vouchers to purchase coverage in state health insurance exchanges if their required premium contribution toward employer coverage exceeded a certain percentage of their income.
The other repealed a provision that would have required employers to distribute Form 1099 statements to any vendor with which it did at least $600 in business.
This report appeared in Business Insurance magazine, a Chicago-based sister publication of Tire Business.