Local Experts Weigh In On Health Care Reform

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - One day after voting to repeal President Barack Obama's landmark expansion of health insurance coverage, House Republicans are going to work to replace it.
   
The House will vote Thursday on a measure that directs four committees -- Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, Education and Workforce, and Judiciary -- to work out the Republican vision for health care.

The Republicans' effort to repeal the health insurance overhaul is assured to fail in the senate, where Democrats still rule the roost. Still, the GOP's push could continue with maneuvers to block funding for components of the law.

The reforms won't be completely rolled out until 2018, though several already have taken effect.

Athena Ford, with the Pennsylvania Health Access Network, says a repeal now would have consequences.

"There are over 32,000 young adults in our state who can stay on their parents' insurance now, up to the age of 26, and they would have to go back to being uninsured," she says.  "We're also looking at over 180,000 small businesses in our state that are receiving tax benefits thanks to the new law."

There are also protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

Republicans say they simply want affordable coverage for Americans -- and for the country. Montgomery County congressman Jim Gerlach spoke on the floor of the House:

"We need common-sense ideas -- ideas that would lower costs by creating more competition among insurance companies, allowing greater freedom of choice for consumers to buy insurance across state lines, and eliminating lawsuit abuses that drive up costs by as much as $150 billion every year."

Reported by Ian Bush, KYW Newsradio