After weeks of negotiations, GOP Hill leadership has found a plan even the Freedom Caucus is willing to support. The key issue? An amendment allowing states to opt-out of certain Obamacare rules.
From The Hill:
The House Freedom Caucus on Wednesday announced it will back the GOP’s healthcare plan now that an amendment allowing states to opt out of key ObamaCare rules is included.The group of roughly 30 hard-line conservatives held out for weeks, scuttling a planned House vote on the bill last month after it became clear there was’t [sic] enough Republican support to pass it.The group said it sees the new amendment, brokered by Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and centrist Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.), as the best option short of fully repealing the 2010 law.”While the revised version still does not fully repeal Obamacare, we are prepared to support it to keep our promise to the American people to lower healthcare costs,” the Freedom Caucus said in a statement.”We look forward to working with our Senate colleagues to improve the bill. Our work will continue until we fully repeal Obamacare.”The MacArthur-Meadows amendment lets states apply for waivers from ObamaCare provisions that ban insurers from charging sick people higher premiums and mandate minimum insurance coverage requirements, as long as the state offers high-risk pools as an alternative.
Whether moderates will jump aboard remains to be seen, but the House Freedom Caucus green light is likely to put pressure on those in the middle.
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