Is ObamaCare debate starting to thaw?

October 01 01:00 2015 by ushadmin

In a nearly empty House chamber on Monday afternoon, a little-noticed bill came up for a voice vote. The few lawmakers on the floor shouted “aye,” no one shouted “no,” and the bill was passed.

Changing ObamaCare has rarely been so drama-free.

Passage of the bill, which would adjust the healthcare law’s definition of a small employer, is raising hopes that more bipartisan tweaks to ObamaCare could be on the way.

“I do believe that this hopefully is the beginning of a lot of little fixes to a big, big law that’s not perfect,” said Rep. Tony Cárdenas (Calif.), a lead Democratic sponsor of the bill.

Democrats have long accused Republicans of being unwilling to make even minor fixes to the healthcare reform law, arguing the party’s fixation on repeal was standing in the way.

But after a Supreme Court decision over the summer that kept ObamaCare intact for a second time, legislative tweaks are getting a second look.

The bill from Cárdenas and Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), called the Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employees (PACE) Act, deals with an obscure provision in ObamaCare that changed the definition of a small employer from one with 50 employees or fewer to one with 100 employees or fewer, beginning in 2016…