House Republicans might take another swing at repealing Obamacare
According to Billy House and Sahil Kapur of Bloomberg, House GOP leaders could bring back the American Health Care Act as early as next week for a vote on the House floor.
Citing two Republican lawmakers, Bloomberg reported a deal is being ironed out between the hardline conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus and more moderate GOP members to make the AHCA more palatable for both sides.
It is unclear whether the move would come in the form of a new bill or an amended version of the AHCA.
AshLee Strong, a spokesperson for House Speaker Paul Ryan, told Business Insider there was "no schedule update" on any Obamacare replacement bill, throwing cold water on the possibility of a vote in the coming days.
"The speaker has encouraged members to continue talking so we can get to a place of yes and fulfill our promise to repeal and replace Obamacare," Strong said.
The AHCA, which would repeal and replace Obamacare, was pulled from the House floor minutes before a vote was set to be held Friday. Members of the Freedom Caucus felt the bill did not go far enough in its repeal of Obamacare, while moderates expressed concern about the large coverage losses forecast under the AHCA.
House GOP leaders seemed optimistic that the AHCA could be revived during a press conference Tuesday, and Ryan told Republican donors on Monday that the conference was "still moving forward on healthcare."
But until Wednesday, no timeline had been floated for such a revival. The AHCA, which was pulled from a floor vote just 18 days after it was introduced, was fraught with deadlines that to many lawmakers seemed arbitrary and complicated its legislative process.
Bloomberg cited numerous GOP House lawmakers saying that discussions were ongoing, but they were not sure when the bill was going to be set to be reintroduced.
Reports indicated that the White House was also involved in the negotiations. According to the New York Times, Vice President Mike Pence met with Republican House members on Tuesday, and chief strategist Steve Bannon was also trying to win over skeptical members.
A spokesperson for the House Freedom Caucus didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.