Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on October 22 released the first part of a replacement plan for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act -- also known as "Obamacare," according to a news report published online by the Hill.
In a press conference, Republican Study Committee Chair Mike Johnson (R-LA) said that his party hopes that the plan will lead it back to a House majority in 2020. The proposal is "meant to be seen as an alternative to 'Medicare for All' and other single-payor proposals currently being debated by Democratic presidential candidates," according to the article.
"It takes money currently being spent on the law's subsidies and instead establishes high-risk pools while also undoing states' Medicaid expansions and enhanced Medicaid funding in favor of a block grant," the news site reported. "The plan would allow states to decide which 'essential health benefits' to cover, remove the ban on annual and lifetime limits on covered benefits, and would remove the law's rules that plans cover certain preventive services for free."
![Axial images from unenhanced calcium score cardiac CT (left) and curved planar reformation images from CT angiography (right) show that higher long-term exposure to air pollution is associated with greater coronary artery calcium and more obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). Top row: Images in a 68-year-old male patient with higher 10-year mean ambient air pollution exposure (7.9 μg/m3 for particulate matter measuring ≤2.5 μm in diameter [PM2.5] and 17.4 parts per billion [ppb] for NO2) with extensive CAD (coronary artery calcium score [CACS] >1,000 and obstructive CAD [≥70% diameter stenosis]). Bottom row: Images in a 57-year-old female patient with lower 10-year mean ambient air pollution exposure (6.3 μg/m3 for PM2.5 and 4.6 ppb for NO2) with no CAD (CACS = 0 and no obstructive stenosis).](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/06/hanneman.r6SMLzkezo.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)