The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) congratulated Congress for passing H.R. 3762, the Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act. The bill repeals substantial parts of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and marks the first time a repeal bill will be sent to the president’s desk. Although the legislation will be vetoed, it is now clear where every member of Congress stands on this critical issue.

The reconciliation process was created by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to allow for expedited consideration of certain tax, spending, and debt limit legislation. Reconciliation bills require only a majority vote in the Senate for passage and cannot be filibustered. The process was used to pass several deficit reduction bills during the Reagan administration and enact the Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003. It was last used in 2010 to enact Obamacare.

H.R. 3762 removes some of the most pernicious aspects of Obamacare, such as the individual mandate and the employer mandate. The Congressional Budget Office found that this repeal would reduce the federal deficit by $516 billion from 2016 to 2025.

CCAGW President Tom Schatz said, “From the collapse of Healthcare.gov to the failure of the state-based CO-OPs, Obamacare has been a disaster since day one. Premiums have exploded, other healthcare costs have gone up, and millions of Americans have not been able to keep their doctors and insurance plans, as President Obama promised. Even though the president will veto H.R. 3762, the legislation provides a roadmap for future efforts to undo this taxpayer-funded disaster, and raises the importance of this issue in a critical election year.”

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.