"Investors are concerned ... if this vote goes poorly, then what are the implications for tax reform and repatriation of offshore capital," said John Traynor, chief investment officer at People's United Bank in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

VOTE TIMING
The House vote had been expected by about 7 p.m. (2300 GMT). But by midnight on Wednesday, lawmakers had not yet settled on the timing as conservative and moderate Republicans split on whether there should be additional changes to the proposal.
House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions said the vote could happen as early as Thursday or as late as Monday.

The normally well-scripted House, which runs on tight rules that lay out the duration of debates on legislation and approximate times for votes, was anything but scripted on Thursday.

The Rules Committee, which is the gatekeeper for all legislation heading to the House floor, had not yet set the parameters of the debate, including any amendments that would be allowed. Republicans still did not know exactly what would be in the legislation as they negotiated with undecided colleagues.

With Republicans in control of the White House, the Senate and the House, the party has a chance to achieve what it has aimed to do for seven years - overturn Obama's 2010 Affordable Care Act.

The law aimed to boost the number of Americans with health insurance through mandates on individuals and employers, and income-based subsidies. Some 20 million Americans gained insurance coverage through the law.

The House replacement plan would rescind the taxes created by Obamacare, repeal a penalty against people who do not buy coverage, slash funding for the Medicaid program for the poor and disabled, and modify tax subsidies that help individuals buy plans.

While conservative Republicans are pushing for more aggressive cuts to Obamacare mandates, some moderates in the party are worried that the legislation would hit some of their core voters by depriving them of insurance.

This means changes to the bill to satisfy conservatives would carry the risk of turning moderates against it, and also of complicating the work of their colleagues in the Senate.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated 14 million people would lose medical coverage under the Republican plan by next year. It also said 24 million fewer people would be insured by 2026.

Representative Charlie Dent, a leader of the "Tuesday Group" of House Republican moderates who has said he cannot support the bill, said he believed Republican leaders had not yet corralled enough support to pass the bill.

U.S. Healthcare Homepage