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 Key members of the administration, including Vice President Mike
Pence, invited a group of moderate Republicans known as the "Tuesday
Group" to the White House. Pence then went to Capitol Hill to meet
the Freedom Caucus, a group of House conservatives who last month
derailed a healthcare bill backed by President Donald Trump.
The White House would like to see a revised bill come up for a vote
as early as week's end, before the House breaks for a spring recess,
and the text of the new proposal could be ready some time on
Tuesday, lawmakers said.
"It was clear the president would be very happy come Friday to have
this passed," said U.S. Representative Chris Collins, a member of
the Tuesday Group and a Trump ally.
"This could move fairly quickly," he said.
Just 10 days ago, House Speaker Paul Ryan was forced to cancel a
vote on a bill to replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act, popularly
known as Obamacare, when it was clear he could not deliver the votes
needed for it to pass.
The defeat was a big political setback for Trump and fellow
Republicans in Congress who were elected on pledges to repeal and
replace former Democratic President Barack Obama's signature
healthcare law.
Freedom Caucus members said the Republican bill was too similar to
Obamacare, while moderate Republicans balked at some of the changes
conservatives sought.
Trump attacked Freedom Caucus members on Twitter late last week for
their opposition to the bill and threatened to work to defeat them
in the 2018 congressional elections.
At the weekend, he struck a more conciliatory tone, tweeting early
on Sunday: "Talks on Repealing and Replacing Obamacare are, and have
been, going on, and will continue until such time as a deal is
hopefully struck."
After golfing with the president on Sunday, Republican Senator Rand
Paul, a sharp critic of the Republicans' previous healthcare bill,
also expressed renewed hope the healthcare bill could be revised in
a way that picked up support from the conservative and moderate
factions of the Republican Party.
Paul told reporters he was "very optimistic that we are getting
closer and closer to an agreement repealing Obamacare."
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KEY PROVISIONS
Pence and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus laid out the
administration's revised healthcare plan during a 40-minute meeting
with Freedom Caucus members, said Congressman Mark Meadows, the
leader of the conservative group.
Meadows said he was "intrigued" by the new plan, which would allow
states to opt out of some of Obamacare's mandates, possibly by
obtaining waivers.
"We're encouraged ... but would certainly need a whole lot more
information before we can take any action either in support or in
opposition," Meadows told reporters. He expected to see a detailed
draft of the proposal within 24 hours, he said.
In the earlier meeting with the moderate Tuesday Group, White House
officials said the new plan would preserve Obamacare's essential
health benefits clause, or services and care that insurers must
cover, but states could apply for a waiver if they could show it
would improve coverage and reduce costs, according to Collins.
Trump aides also discussed directing funds from the $115 billion
stability fund for states into high-risk pools for people with
pre-existing health conditions to better ensure insurance premiums
come down in cost, Collins said.
"It's an acknowledgement that they were chasing votes with the
Freedom Caucus and the Far Right and then ended up losing votes with
those of us who are typically the most reliable votes," Collins said
of the proposal provisions discussed at the meeting.
(Reporting by David Morgan; Writing by Eric Beech and Amanda Becker;
Editing by Peter Cooney and Paul Tait)
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