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Freedom Caucus endorses latest Republican plan to revise Obamacare

 
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis.,  would not commit to scheduling a vote on the measure. "We'll vote on it when we get the votes," he said. [Associated Press]
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., would not commit to scheduling a vote on the measure. "We'll vote on it when we get the votes," he said. [Associated Press]
Published April 26, 2017

WASHINGTON — An influential group of House conservatives threw its support behind Republicans' latest plan to revise the Affordable Care Act, even as some members balked at a provision that would allow members of Congress to keep health benefits that other Americans might lose.

The House Freedom Caucus, whose votes are seen as necessary to pass the latest GOP proposal, officially announced it support for the plan midday Wednesday.

Members of the group had predicted their counterparts would rally behind the proposal, particularly after it was endorsed by two leading conservative advocacy groups.

"If they have eyes to see, they see how tight this thing is," said Rep. David Brat, R-Va. "They're rational, right? They see what it was like getting to the sweet spot here; hopefully, we're at the sweet spot. If they make any big changes I don't think that goes over too well."

The latest GOP proposal would allow states to opt out of the Affordable Care Act's requirement that health plans cover basic medical benefits, among other rules. The plan's progress appeared to hit a snag earlier in the day when members learned they would not be subject to such a change because they obtain health insurance through a marketplace operated by the District of Columbia.

"We need to ensure that Congress doesn't get some special exemption," said Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., a member of the group. "Congress can't impose upon the people of the United States things that it is unwilling to have imposed on itself."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., denounced this portion of the bill.

"The monstrous immorality of TrumpCare is perfectly encapsulated in House Republicans' plan to exempt their own health coverage from the damage it will do to everyone else. If House Republicans are afraid of TrumpCare for themselves, they have no right to force it on hard-working American families," she said in a statement Wednesday.

White House officials and several Republican lawmakers had claimed Tuesday night that they were nearing a deal on health care legislation with the Freedom Caucus, with at least three leading figures in the hard-line group ready to support an overhaul after the dramatic collapse of talks last month.

The latest impediment arose as leading conservative advocacy groups declared support for the plan and House Republican leaders praised it as a step in the right direction.

"I think it's very constructive," House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., said at a news conference. "What we see is progress being made, showing that we're moving and getting on the same page."

At the same time, Ryan would not commit to scheduling a vote on the measure. "We'll vote on it when we get the votes," he said.

The latest proposal was negotiated by Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., chairman of the Freedom Caucus, and Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-N.J., co-chairman of the centrist Tuesday Group, with help from the White House.

Pelosi decried the Meadows-MacArthur amendment for "gutting" basic medical benefits and protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

She predicted that the plan would make health-care coverage more expensive.

"Many would lose access to affordable health coverage entirely, on top of the 24 million hard-working Americans who would already lose insurance under the original TrumpCare language," Pelosi stated.

White House officials said Tuesday that MacArthur made clear during the discussions that he wanted states such as New Jersey to be able to keep some mandates under the law, while Meadows wanted states to have the choice of opting out of the insurance requirements.

Any new proposal would have to surmount the same obstacles that stalled the House GOP leadership's plan before Congress left for a two-week recess in early April.

"The key to getting this across the finish line doesn't rest with the Tuesday Group. It rests with the Freedom Caucus," Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., a member of the centrist group, said Tuesday.

President Donald Trump has been fitfully trying to restart health-care talks after Ryan abruptly pulled the American Health Care Act from the floor at the end of March. Trump at first said the health-care issue was dead but then revived talks. He seems intent on getting a concrete legislative win, or at least flashes of progress in that direction, as his administration approaches the 100-day mark.

Republicans close to House GOP leaders said Tuesday that they remain skeptical of how much support would be behind any new legislation and said House leaders are not driving the discussions with the Freedom Caucus.