Trump discusses changes in healthcare to win against conservatives

The White House is talking with House conservatives about last-minute changes to the embattled GOP health-care bill aimed at wooing enough holdouts to secure House passage. Lawmakers and Trump administration officials are discussing revisions to “essential benefits” requirements in Obamacare, according to members of Congress and a White House official familiar with the discussions. The negotiations dragged late into Wednesday night, and Republicans postponed until Thursday a key procedural step before the bill gets to the floor.

Mark Meadows of North Carolina, who chairs the House Freedom Caucus, disputed that. “Addressing pre-existing conditions has always been a requirement for any replacement plan that HFC would support,” he said late Wednesday.

President Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan have been working to win over conservative rebels who stand in the way of their Obamacare replacement measure. Late Wednesday, Meadows said there are signs of movement.

It’s unclear whether changes to these requirements could survive procedural challenges in the Senate.

So far, about a dozen members of the Freedom Caucus have come around to embrace the bill. The group claims to have roughly 40 members, but doesn’t publish an official roster.

Source: Bloomberg

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