House sets Jan. 12 vote on repeal of health-care law

Cardin Expects Supreme Court Review of Health-Care Law

Dec. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Senator Benjamin Cardin, a Maryland Democrat, talks about U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson's ruling that the Obama administration's requirement that most citizens maintain minimum health coverage is unconstitutional. Cardin, speaking with Peter Cook on Bloomberg Television's "Bottom Line," also discusses tax policy and the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. (Source: Bloomberg) (Bloomberg)

By Paul Kane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 3, 2011; 8:40 PM 
House Republicans have set Jan. 12 as their day to vote on a repeal of President Obama's health-care law, after a midterm election in which they campaigned against the landmark legislation as a government takeover of the health industry.
The announcement Monday sets up the attempted repeal of the health-care law as the first significant legislative action by House Republicans in the 112th Congress. With 242 members on their side, Republicans expect to pass the legislation easily, but they privately acknowledge that the measure faces a high hurdle in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
"Obamacare is a job-killer for businesses small and large, and the top priority for House Republicans is going to be to cut spending and grow the economy and jobs," Brad Dayspring, spokesman for incoming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), said in a statement.
The repeal legislation will be a brief document that simply revokes the law. Obama signed the measure in March after a legislative battle that lasted nearly a year and proved politically bruising. Democrats have since suggested it was worth the fallout.
Although many Democrats distanced themselves from the legislation during last fall's elections, some liberals want to use this next phase as a chance to reframe the debate in their favor, particularly as the effects of the legislation begin to kick in this year.
"Republicans want another debate about health-care reform? Well, so should Democrats. They beat us in Round One with lies and scare tactics. We welcome a second shot," Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) said.
And Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the outgoing speaker, said in a post on Twitter, "While Dems are focused on job creation, GOP is fast-tracking repealing patients' rights & Rx help for seniors."
GOP leaders often advanced a "repeal and replace" theme during the 2010 campaign. A day after Republicans won control of the House in November, Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), who will replace Pelosi as speaker, signaled a slow approach to the repeal by saying that Republicans must "lay the groundwork before we begin to repeal this monstrosity."
Instead, they will pass their repeal legislation a week after the start of the new Congress.
A key element of the legislation, the mandate that all individuals buy health insurance, does not take effect until 2014. Other portions took effect Saturday, with the dawn of the new year, including one that provides discounts to Medicare beneficiaries for the purchase of prescription drugs - covering what is commonly known as the system's "doughnut hole."
In a Monday letter to Boehner signaling that they have no intention to consider the repeal, Senate Democrats cited the "doughnut-hole fix" as a key provision that must be allowed to take effect. "This proposal deserves a chance to work. It is too important to be treated as collateral damage in a partisan mission to repeal health care," Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and other Senate Democratic leaders wrote.
That sets up a likely showdown over the funding of some of the provisions, including money that would need to be allocated to the Department of Health and Human Services and other agencies to fund the legislation's implementation.