House votes to repeal reform law

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to repeal the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as the legislative body's new Republican majority kept its campaign pledge to seek to overturn the law.

As expected, every single Republican voted in favor of the bill, which followed hours of debate Tuesday and Wednesday on the House floor. The final vote tally was 245-189, and the only non-voting member was Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who remains in serious condition after being shot in Tucson, Ariz. earlier this month. The three House Democrats who supported the repeal legislation were Reps. Dan Boren of Oklahoma, Mike McIntyre of North Carolina and Mike Ross of Arkansas.

The House is scheduled to re-convene Thursday morning, when members will consider a resolution to replace the Affordable Care Act, and the repeal legislation would still need to pass in the Democrat-controlled Senate. After the vote Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) congratulated his colleagues in the House and said the “Senate will soon follow suit with a vote of its own,” according to a transcript.

But Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) suggested otherwise in a statement following the vote.

“Last week, Speaker Boehner was right to postpone this vote and suspend the House's usual business, but many hoped he'd also end business as usual in Washington when work resumed,” Kerry said in a statement. “Unfortunately, in this vote America received a discouraging answer in the form of a political charade that would endanger Americans' healthcare if it had any chance of moving forward in the Senate.”