Healthcare Law by Obama

The House voted 245-189 to approve the Republican bill that would scrap the law, which was passed by Congress last year after a bitter debate and signed by Obama when his fellow Democrats still controlled both the House and Senate.

"Our pledge was to repeal 'Obamacare,'" said House Speaker John Boehner, using a derisive term for the law. "Why? Because it is going to increase spending, increase taxes and destroy jobs in America."

Polls show that Americans are split on the law. An ABC News/Washington Post poll this week found that more Americans now believe it will hurt rather than help the struggling U.S. economy.

Republicans say the law saddles businesses with high costs and complicated regulations. Democrats say the law is an historic move to deliver health insurance to more than 30 million people who currently cannot afford it while also lowering medical costs and providing more consumer protections.

The law will also bar insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing health conditions.
Six other people were killed in the attack that prompted calls for politicians to tone down their rhetoric.
Republicans delayed debate on the bill for a week after Giffords was shot. Lawmakers from both sides largely avoided inflammatory rhetoric.
"Let's be clear, this law is working," said Representative Sander Levin, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee. "Repealing it would have real-life consequences for millions of Americans."

Some, but not all, of the provisions in the law have gone into effect. They include allowing young people to stay on their parents' health insurance until age 26, improving drug savings for the elderly on the government's Medicare insurance program, and creating temporary high-risk pools to help people with medical conditions obtain health coverage.

Other elements such as the creation of insurance exchanges to help individuals and small business compare and purchase plans do not go into effect until 2014.

Federal courts have issued differing positions on whether a mandate that Americans purchase health insurance is permissible under the U.S. Constitution. The question is expected to wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court.