In a move seen as being more about politics than policy, a Republican-led Congress gutted Obamacare and defunded Planned Parenthood in a budget bill sure to get the president's veto.
The bill passed mostly along party lines in a vote of 240 to 181.
It scraps the Affordable Care Act's employer and individual mandates to buy health insurance, and in 2018, subsidies for Medicaid expansion and premiums. It would defund Planned Parenthood for a year.
Other parts of the ACA were removed earlier in an omnibus agreement that delayed the Cadillac tax on high-end insurance plans and the medical-device tax.
Throughout the day Wednesday, representatives debated the reconciliation bill.
Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma, said if the vote was not about politics, then Congress would be debating a measure that had a chance of getting past the president's desk.
"How are you going to repeal Obamacare when a guy named Obama is president of the United States unless you have overwhelming majorities which we don't have?" Cole said, adding that he supports the reconciliation bill and the defunding of Planned Parenthood.
Republicans will try to override the expected veto later this month, but House Speaker Paul Ryan admitted they do not have the votes to do so, according to a published source.
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said, "We've worked hard--I'd say relentlessly--to make this day happen. Yes, we fought to delay, defund, and actually repeal Obamacare. This law is a failure. We know it, and I know all of you on the other side of the aisle know it as well. Twelve co-ops have failed. State exchanges are failing."
Ted Lieu, D-California, said, "The Affordable Care Act will remain the law of the land and Planned Parenthood won't be defunded."
Without the ACA, over 22 million people would lose healthcare coverage, he said, referring to the Congressional Budget Office report that without Obamacare, in two years 22 million fewer people would have health insurance.
Republicans have no plan to fix that crisis, Lieu said.
Jim McGovern, D-Mass., and other Democrats said people deserve healthcare coverage.
Mike Bishop, R-Michigan, speaking in support of the reconciliation bill, said the ACA is touted as being affordable, but he's heard from constituents that it's anything but.
"We're actually listening to our constituents, (we've) heard the horror stories," said Bishop citing one individual who told him his healthcare deductible rose from $5,000 per family to $5,000 per family member under the ACA.
House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price, R-Georgia, a doctor, also criticized the high deductibles that make Obamacare coverage unaffordable for many Americans.