Members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted 236-183 Wednesday to pass H.R. 1217, a bill that would repeal a public health fund created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
All Republicans who voted supported the bill, and 4 of the 187 Democrats who voted supported it.
H.R. 1217 was introduced by Rep. Joseph Pitts, R-Pa., chairman of the health subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Pitts has accused the Democrats who drafted and voted for PPACA of including provisions that give the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) an unusual amount of freedom to spend $17 billion in PPACA implementation funding without seeking congressional approval.
If H.R. 1217 becomes law and is approved and implemented as written, the bill would repeal PPACA Section 4002, which gave HHS a new, flexible Prevention and Public Health Fund. The bill also would rescind any unobligated balance of any funds already made available under PPACA Section 4002.
