GOP resurrects Obamacare repeal talks

UPDATE: After an initial jolt from top White House officials, healthcare discussions broke down Tuesday night, leaving the GOP without a clear path forward to repeal Obamacare.

Vice President Mike Pence and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus met with House Republicans multiple times Tuesday culminating in a two-hour meeting in the basement of the Capitol. But after hearing the White House pitch, conservative and moderate Republicans realized they were still not on the same page.

“There were no agreements tonight in principle and certainly no agreements in terms of a foundation,” Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., told reporters after exiting the meeting.

Meadows is the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, whose members have been some of the most vocal opponents of the White House–endorsed healthcare bill.

Without an agreement, the House is not expected to reschedule a vote on healthcare until after the two-week Easter recess that starts next week. But Republicans plan to continue to meet with the Trump administration this week to discuss healthcare options.

OUR EARLIER STORY (4/4/17, 5:38 p.m.): WASHINGTON—Republicans on Capitol Hill resurrected healthcare reform discussions this week as the White House seeks a suitable compromise to dismantle Obamacare.

On Monday, a day usually reserved for lawmakers to travel back to Washington, Vice President Mike Pence and other top White House staff held late night meetings to find a path forward on healthcare legislation.

Negotiations remain fluid, but Republican leaders have not ruled out a vote on a revised healthcare package this week before lawmakers return to their districts for a two-week recess. After failing the first time, the Trump administration remains hopeful for quick progress to follow through on its promise to repeal Obamacare.

Last month, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., delayed a vote on the American Health Care Act (AHCA) for 24-hours as he desperately tried to drum up enough support within the conference. But he ultimately failed and postponed the vote indefinitely.

Fallout came quickly. Several House Republicans publicly criticized Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., and the three-dozen members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus opposing the Trump administration and sinking the AHCA. President Donald Trump himself called out Republicans by name on social media. He tweeted last week Americans could have great healthcare if only Meadows and other Freedom Caucus members would get on board.

With the dust beginning to settle, Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas., a Freedom Caucus member, told reporters Tuesday that Trump isn’t the problem. He said after multiple meetings the president agreed on compromises with the group on two separate occasions. Ryan and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus pushed back, fearing fallout from moderates, Gohmert claimed.

“We’re really looking for a way to get to yes,” Gohmert said after a Tuesday morning meeting with the full GOP conference. “We’ll keep pushing because we’ve got to do something—people need help.”

Ryan confirmed the ongoing healthcare discussions but declined to share any details of proposed changes to gain more support from both conservative and moderate Republicans who refused to support the AHCA last month.

“We don’t have a bill text or an agreement, but these are the kinds of conversations we want—all the various caucus members, the administration, those productive kinds of conversations are happening right now,” Ryan said. “It’s all about getting the premiums down.”

During his meeting with Freedom Caucus members Monday night, Pence pitched an offer to appease some of their AHCA qualms. The vice president suggested granting states the option to waive two key Obamacare regulations, which conservatives blame for driving up healthcare premiums.

Meadows told reporters Monday evening, the new bill would give states the option of allowing insurance buyers to forego to force persons to pay for essential health benefits or not. These benefits include mental health care, substance abuse treatment, maternity care, and prescription drugs, and other kinds of care some persons don’t need or want to pay for.

The other idea Pence floated was to strip the community rating requirement implemented in Obamacare and retained in the original version of the AHCA. The community ratings block insurers from segregating healthy subscribers from sick ones in order to lower premiums for the sick based on subsidies from healthy subscribers. Conservatives claim this is one of the biggest reasons premiums continue to rise.

Meadows did not agree to a deal Monday night and said he needs to see the changes written out in a revised bill. He told reporters Tuesday if a new bill came out he would convene a meeting with his caucus tonight.

Meanwhile, others in the conference are tamping down expectations for healthcare legislation this week.

Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., told me Republicans are not going to make the same mistake twice and will not schedule a vote until they can guarantee a bill will pass.

As of Tuesday morning, Womack said he has seen no signs from Republican leaders that they are close to a deal. Womack said lawmakers have little time to get something done this week and still need to run changes to the bill through the Senate parliamentarian to ensure the legislation can move forward under the expedited reconciliation process.

“The stars have to line up completely,” Womack said.

Pence and Priebus arrived again at the Capitol on Tuesday afternoon to huddle with Ryan and other lawmakers about next steps.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer gave few details about the meetings. “I think both the chief of staff and the vice president feel very optimistic with the tone of the conversation and the ideas that are coming out,” Spicer told reporters at the White House.

But he declined to elaborate on what changes to AHCA the White House is discussing with Ryan.

“I don’t want to start prejudging where this thing is going to head,” he said.