US House of Representatives repeals health care overhaul

Jan 19, 2011, 23:07 GMT

Washington - The US House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to repeal an overhaul of the country's health care system that marked President Barack Obama's signature domestic achievement in his first two years in office.

The repeal, approved along mostly party lines in a 245-189 vote, marked a symbolic effort with little chance of becoming law. It fulfilled a promise by Republicans who took control of the lower chamber this month in the aftermath of November's congressional elections.

'Repeal means keeping a promise,' Republican John Boehner, who earlier this month became speaker of the House, said shortly before the vote. 'When you look at the facts and when you listen to the people, this is a promise worth keeping.'

The Senate remains controlled by Obama's left-leaning Democrats, and the chamber's Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he has no plans to take up the legislation. Obama would also be certain to veto any repeal bill that did make it to his desk.

The legislation signed by Obama in March marked the most ambitious effort to overhaul the US health industry in four decades and aimed to extend insurance to about 50 million people who have no coverage.

Republicans have repeatedly derided the bill as a 'government takeover' of the largely private health care system and mounted court challenges against the bill's requirement that Americans purchase insurance.

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