Majority in US House votes to repeal healthcare law

The Republican-led US House of Representatives passed legislation that would repeal President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare reform law in a mostly symbolic move likely to be scuttled in the Senate.

The House voted 245-189 to approve the Republican bill that would scrap the law, which was passed by Congress last year after a bitter debate and signed by Obama when his fellow Democrats still controlled both the House and Senate.

The unified House Republicans were joined by three Democrats in backing the bill, which also needs Senate passage but is unlikely to get it. The Senate remains under Democratic control and is not expected to take up the repeal legislation.

Even if the Senate were to pass the measure, Obama has vowed to veto any effort to repeal the healthcare law, one of his biggest legislative victories.

Republican leaders said they were committed to trying to repeal it in order to honour a campaign pledge that helped them win control of the House and gain seats in the Senate in congressional elections last November.

"Our pledge was to repeal 'Obamacare,'" said House Speaker John Boehner, using a derisive term for the law. "Why? Because it is going to increase spending, increase taxes and destroy jobs in the US."

Polls show that US citizens are split on the law. An ABC News/Washington Post poll this week found that more citizens now believe it will hurt rather than help the struggling US economy. But the poll also showed that just 18 percent favour full repeal of the law.

Republicans say the law saddles businesses with high costs and complicated regulations. Democrats say the law is an historic move to deliver health insurance to more than 30 million people who currently cannot afford it while also lowering medical costs and providing more consumer protections.

The law will also bar insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing health conditions.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said repealing the law would damage the economy. "Given where we are, we must do things that help bolster the recovery, and repealing the Affordable Care Act would be a step in the wrong direction," he said.