The House Freedom Caucus officially backs an updated version of the GOP health care bill that includes a significant amendment co-sponsored by the group’s chairman, the conservative bloc’s spokeswoman announced early Wednesday afternoon. She did not respond immediately to a Twitter inquiry asking if the caucus’s support meant all of its members would vote yes on the legislation.
The so-called Meadows-MacArthur amendment, from House Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows and moderate Tuesday Group co-chairman Tom MacArthur, would allow states to waive a limited number of Obamacare regulations under certain conditions. Conservatives have argued that the regulations in question are health care cost-drivers, and their total preservation in the original draft of the American Health Care Act was behind the lawmakers’ initial opposition to the legislation.
Although the Freedom Caucus’s endorsement of the updated language helps push the bill closer to majority support in the lower chamber, there is a risk that moderate members who were already concerned could be driven away. Whip counts published in the media including one from the New York Times, placed the number of moderate representatives who were unclear, concerned, or against the legislation previously pulled from the House floor near 30. Rep. Charlie Dent, a Tuesday Group co-chairman, said that he believes most moderates who opposed the bill originally still do—”and some supporters could flip too,” according to Politico’s Kyle Cheney. There are 238 Republicans in the House; the party can afford to lose 22 of them and pass the legislation, if all members on both sides of the aisle vote.
The Meadows-MacArthur amendment comprises policy relevant to the Affordable Care Act’s “pre-existing conditions” and “essential health benefits” provisions, which makes many moderates uneasy. But the amendment also provides several hedges to help retain them. THE WEEKLY STANDARD wrote about the amendment’s principles last week:
