In what's been called a symbolic move, the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on a repeal of the new health care law this week (maybe tomorrow).
It's symbolic because the law isn't likely to be repealed. A vote isn't expected to come up in the Senate, and even if a repeal bill DID pass the Senate, President Obama would more than likely veto it.
Laura Weber, of the Michigan Public Radio Network, spoke with supporters of the federal health care law.
Ryan Irvin is with Michigan’s branch of the group Organizing for America. He says there are several ways people in Michigan would be hurt if the health care reforms were actually repealed:
"One, there are concrete benefits now, so it is really going to hurt people, but two, there’s a lot still to be implemented. I think this is the start of a discussion about how it can be implemented and implemented well, which is a positive discussion, but this idea of repealing and taking away benefits is going to hurt a lot of people and hurt them badly."
Lawsuits are the more likely route to derailing the health care law in the near term.
Michigan's Attorney General has joined many other states arguing that parts of the new health care law are unconstitutional.
So far, one federal court in Michigan ruled in favor of the law, while another federal court in Virginia ruled against it.
Bloomberg News reports the Administration is appealing the Virginia court ruling:
The government filed a notice of appeal today with U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson, who struck down the linchpin of President Barack Obama’s health-care legislation, finding its insurance mandate beyond Congress’s power to regulate interstate commerce. The notice is the first step in asking the appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, to reverse Hudson’s Dec. 13 ruling.
