The US House of Representatives has taken the first step toward demolishing President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, known as Obamacare.Republicans passed a budget measure to introduce a bill - which Democrats cannot block - to roll back the law.But members of both parties in Congress are concerned about a lack of replacement for Obamacare.The political showdown raises a big question mark over medical coverage for more than 20 million Americans.The measure passed in the House nearly on a party-line vote, 227-198, delivering a blow to President Obama's legacy a week before he leaves office.It instructs four committees on Capitol Hill to draft repeal legislation by 27 January.The Senate passed the resolution by 51-48 on Thursday.Can Obamacare be repealed?US patients await Obamacare's fate"By taking the first step toward repealing Obamacare, we are closer to giving Americans relief from the problems this law has caused," House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement following the vote. The House of Representatives voted 227-198 to instruct committees to draft legislation by a target date of Jan. 27 that would repeal the 2010 Affordable Health Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare. A White House spokesman said Barack Obama would sign the measure if Congress approved it before he leaves office next week. The Senate approved the same measure early Thursday.No Democrats supported the initiative.With this vote, Republicans began delivering on their promise to end Obamacare, which also was a campaign promise of President-elect Donald Trump.The program, which expanded health coverage to some 20 million people, has been plagued by increases in insurance premiums and deductibles and by some large insurers leaving the system.The resolution passed by the House and Senate does not need presidential approval, since it is part of an internal congressional budget process. But once the Obamacare repeal legislation is drafted, both chambers will need to approve it, and a presidential signature will be required.By that time, Trump will have been sworn in as president and he has urged Congress to act quickly to repeal and replace the Democratic program. House Speaker Paul Ryan, accompanied by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, meets with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday to discuss efforts to replace the Affordable Care Act. “This experiment has failed,” and “we have to step in before things get worse.”

The Senate passed the budget resolution on Thursday. “This is a critical first step to deliver relief to Americans struggling under this law,” House Speaker Paul Ryan told fellow members, describing as a “rescue mission” the latest effort to unwind Obamacare. This is nothing short of a rescue mission.”

US President-elect Donald Trump on Friday praised the vote on Twitter, saying, “The ‘Unaffordable’ Care Act will soon be history!” He had vowed to have the Act repealed during his presidential campaign.
The United States House of Representatives votes in favor of legislation that approves preliminary budgetary measures for the United States Congress to begin repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, colloquially known as Obamacare.