The Hill By Peter Sullivan - 04/03/17
White House officials presented an offer to the conservative House Freedom Caucus on Monday night as they seek to revive the ObamaCare replacement bill.
Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials presented an idea to the Freedom Caucus meeting to allow states to choose to apply for waivers to repeal two ObamaCare regulations that conservatives argue are driving up premiums.
Those two regulations detail ObamaCare's essential health benefits, which mandate which health services insurers must cover, and "community rating," which prevents insurers from charging sick people higher premiums.
Conservatives had previously called for the bill to repeal those regulations outright, but the deal now being discussed would give states a choice by allowing them to apply for a waiver from the federal government.
Freedom Caucus members expressed openness to the proposal, but cautioned that they need to review the legislative text, which they hoped would be available within the next 24 hours.
Multiple lawmakers said the White House is hoping to have a vote as soon as this week, though Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), the Freedom Caucus chairman, cautioned against setting "artificial" deadlines.
"There is no deal in principle; there is a solid idea that was offered," Meadows told reporters after the meeting.
"We're certainly encouraged by the progress we seem to be making," he added.
He said that repeal of the two regulations in question would provide enough "yes" votes to pass the bill, but cautioned that the Freedom Caucus needs to review the legislative language and make sure it is adequate.
No lawmakers who were previously opposed to the bill have switched their position because there is currently a lack of detail, Meadows said Monday night.
House leadership has not taken a hands-on approach so far to the revived negotiations, and as recently as a week ago was essentially saying the bill was dead.
There is also the question of how moderates would respond to the proposal. Centrists previously objected to adding repeal of the essential health benefits to the bill.
Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), a member of the centrist Tuesday Group, argued that giving states the choice, and making them meet certain standards in putting together a waiver application, could allay centrist concerns.
More:
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/327124-pence-presents-new-healthcare-offer-to-freedom-caucus