WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- U.S. House Republicans Thursday released a draft spending bill that would cut off funding for many parts of the U.S. healthcare reform law.
Among other things, the bill would block funding for the Affordable Care Act until legal challenges over the law's individual coverage mandate have been settled, The Hill reported.
The draft legislation would block money meant for the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, which handles the lion's share of the healthcare law's implementation, and the recently shuttered office in charge of setting up the Community Living Assistance and Support Services program, The Hill reported.
The measure, stuck in the House Appropriations Committee, would erase $6.8 billion, committee aides said.
Even though the bill would defund a variety of programs within the Health and Human Services Department, its spending levels remain too high for two of the committee's Republican members, The Hill reported.
Reps. Jeff Flake of Arizona and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming have objected to appropriations bills with spending levels higher than those contained in the House-passed budget resolution. The bill has spending levels congressional negotiators agreed to when striking a deal with the White House to raise the debt ceiling.
The GOP budget allotted $139 billion for the bill that funds HHS, labor and education programs. The draft released Thursday would cost $153 billion and would cut off funding for National Public Radio and the "Race to the Top" education program.
