FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

The VICE Guide to Right Now

The House Just Voted to Repeal Obamacare

After the American Health Care Act died in March, the House of Representatives voted to pass a revised bill Thursday.
Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call (CQ Roll Call via AP Images)

Despite facing a slim margin of error, Republicans in the House were successful Thursday in passing a new healthcare bill that would effectively repeal portions of Obamacare, Politico reports. The bill passed after a 217–213 vote and will head to the Senate next.

The first version of the American Health Care Act, also known as "Trumpcare," crashed and burned in March after it was pulled last minute before a scheduled vote. Lawmakers then finagled a few changes to update the bill and try to appeal to more Republicans who had issues with the original version. By Thursday morning, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy confirmed that Republicans would have enough votes to push the bill through.

Last week, the group of hardline House conservatives, known as the Freedom Caucus, decided to launch its support behind the bill thanks to a new amendment that would allow states to opt out of certain benefit requirements, like coverage for maternity care and preventative visits. Fred Upton and Billy Long, two moderate Republican representatives, decided to support the bill after securing an extra $8 billion to help cover people with preexisting conditions. It also would defund Planned Parenthood and would allow insurers to charge older people five times as much as younger people.

Unlike the last version of the bill, which reportedly would have left 24 million fewer Americans insured by 2026, it's not clear what the real world consequences of the bill will be because it was rushed to a vote without first being scored by the Congressional Budget Office. It's not clear if the new score will be out before the Senate votes on it. Members of the Senate, many of whom were concerned with some of the provisions outlined in the original draft, could still issue some major changes to the bill that passed the House.