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 White House officials had urged a floor vote on the legislation
before President Donald Trump's 100th day in office on Saturday,
hoping to follow through on a campaign promise to repeal and replace
the 2010 Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
Advocates had hoped to raise enough support for the measure after a
group of hard-line Republican conservatives endorsed an amended
version on Wednesday.
But by Thursday evening Republican leaders still had not collected
enough votes from moderate Republicans whose backing was also needed
for passage in the House, given united Democratic opposition.
"We won't vote this week," said one House Republican aide, who asked
not to be named. Next week was not ruled out, another indicated.
"We'll call a vote when we have the votes."
Representative Pete Sessions, a senior House Republican, also left
the door open to a vote next week.
Possibly referring to Trump, Sessions said that a lot of people had
tried to rush the legislation to the floor, but House Republican
leaders want to "allow the time to do it right.
"I said it will find its time and I am satisfied we are moving at a
pace, keeping people engaged," he said at a late night session of
the House Rules Committee he chairs.
The Republican healthcare bill would replace Obamacare's
income-based tax credit with an age-based credit, roll back an
expansion of the Medicaid government health insurance program for
the poor and repeal most Obamacare taxes.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office had estimated 24 million
fewer people would have insurance than under the original version.
House leaders brought the bill to the floor last month after Trump
demanded a vote, but yanked it after a rebellion by Republican
moderates and the party's most conservative lawmakers, in a major
setback for Trump.
An amendment drafted by Representative Tom MacArthur won over
conservatives in the hardline Freedom Caucus this week, reviving
some hopes that the bill could still pass.
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The amendment would allow states to seek waivers from some
provisions. Among these are one mandating that insurers charge those
with pre-existing conditions the same as healthy consumers, and that
insurers cover so-called essential health benefits, such as
maternity care.
But a number of centrist Republicans still opposed the measure.
"Protections for those with pre-existing conditions without
contingency, and affordable access to coverage for every American,
remain my priorities for advancing healthcare reform, and this bill
does not satisfy those benchmarks for me," Representative Ryan
Costello of Pennsylvania said in a statement posted on social
network Twitter on Thursday.
Some outside groups like the American Medical Association weighed in
against the legislation, saying it would cost millions their health
care coverage. The bill's future is further clouded in the Senate.
(Reporting by Susan Cornwell and Susan Heavey; Additional reporting
by Amanda Becker, Will Dunham and Richard Cowan; Editing by Julia
Edwards Ainsley and Clarence Fernandez)
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