Repeal of Obamacare Unlikely Until GOP President Elected

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Daria Chernyshova —The repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, will not happen until a Republican president comes to power in the United States, the head of the Economics21 economic think tank at the Manhattan Institute told Sputnik on Tuesday.

"Repeal of the Affordable Care Act won't happen until Americans elect a Republican president. It is more important to modify the most damaging provisions of the ACA, such as getting rid of the employer penalty for hiring which is lowering employment and labor force participation rates," Diana Furchtgott-Roth who is also former chief economist of the U.S. Department of Labor said.

On Tuesday, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on a bill calling to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on the 50th attempt.

The motion to abolish US President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law was introduced on Monday by Texas Senator Ted Cruz. The White House said Obama would veto a bill in the US House of Representatives, adding that an attempt to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would endanger US health care, and would also increase the deficit and halt job creation and economic growth.

US Congress created a new healthcare system in 2010, when President Obama’s Democratic Party controlled both houses of the legislature. Proponents of Obamacare say it helps poor people access health insurance, which is far more expensive in the US than in most industrialized nations.

The right-wing Republican Party strongly opposes Obamacare, saying it harms the economy and limits consumer choices. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives has voted to repeal Obamacare dozens of times, but has been stopped by the Senate, which was controlled by the Democratic Party until last November’s elections.