Snow chills House PPACA bill veto response

Republicans in Congress have postponed action on the veto of a major Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) pruner bill until next week because of the blizzard that hit the Washington area last week.

President Obama sent Congress a message stating that he had vetoed H.R. 3762, the Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Act bill, Jan. 8.

The House voted that same day to consider the veto message Jan. 26 — Tuesday. 

Because of the snow, the House will consider the message next week, according to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. 

If H.R. 3762 were implemented as written, it would eliminate many key PPACA provisions, such as the individual and employer “shared responsibility” provisions, which require many individuals to own minimum essential coverage, and many employers to provide affordable coverage with a minimum value, or else face the threat of having to pay penalties.

H.R. 3762 would also repeal many other PPACA commercial health insurance provisions, but it would leave the current ban on annual or lifetime benefits limits and the ban on use of personal health information in decisions to issue coverage — and the ban on use of personal health information other than age, location and tobacco use — in decisions about pricing coverage, in place.

Supporters got the bill through the Senate, where measures usually need support from 60 members to move forward, through a special process that cuts the number of votes needed to advance a bill to 51.

But supporters now need two-thirds majorities in both the House and the Senate to overturn the veto.