The conservative Club for Growth is enthusiastic about a legislative proposal that could let states opt out of certain Obamacare insurance regulations as part of a larger package to partially repeal the healthcare law.
However, the details of the proposal have not been announced and are expected to be released by the White House Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.
The club supports the idea of letting states opt out of Obamacare insurance regulations, a major sticking point among conservatives.
“The deal to repeal Obamacare that Vice President [Mike] Pence is negotiating is a major step forward,” the conservative group said Tuesday.
Pence met with moderate and conservative lawmakers Monday and he is expected to meet with a large gathering of lawmakers Tuesday night.
The White House is pushing a compromise that would let a state opt out of Obamacare regulations, but only if it gets a waiver from the federal government.
However, many questions have not been answered regarding which regulations states could opt out from enforcing.
The House Freedom Caucus wants the new proposal to allow states to opt out of a mandate that requires insurers to cover 10 essential health benefits, another mandate on requiring insurers to offer the same rate in a geographic area, called “community rating,” and the requirement that insurers cover people with pre-existing conditions.
Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., said that people with pre-existing conditions would still be covered under high-risk pools. He said states could use funding from a $115 billion state stability fund for the high-risk pools.
But some moderate lawmakers have balked at including even community ratings as an opt-out regulation.
It is not known if the legislative text, which is partly being drafted by House and Senate panels, will let states opt out from only one or all three of the regulations Meadows described.
The Club for Growth has defended the Freedom Caucus, which took blame for scuttling the Republican leadership’s Obamacare repeal bill a few weeks ago. That bill, the American Health Care Act, was pulled due to insufficient support on March 24.
The new proposal would be an amendment to the American Health Care Act. Several lawmakers said it is doubtful if the AHCA could be brought up again for a vote by the end of this week before Congress adjourns for a two-week recess.
