Key Group of House Republicans Now Back AHCA 2.0

According to its mission statement, the House Freedom Caucus “gives a voice to countless Americans who feel that Washington does not represent them.”

To that end, the group of conservative Republican lawmakers has pledged to support “open, accountable and limited government,” as well as the Constitution, the rule of law and policies that “promote the liberty, safety and prosperity of all Americans.” And that’s why they were collectively able to announce Wednesday they now support the amended American Health Care Act as part of the process to repeal and replace Obamacare.

The group, chaired by Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), released the following statement about the health care reform legislation:

Over the past couple of months, House conservatives have worked tirelessly to improve the American Health Care Act (AHCA) to make it better for the American people. Due to improvements to the AHCA and the addition of Rep. Tom MacArthur’s proposed amendment, the House Freedom Caucus has taken an official position in support of the current proposal.

The MacArthur amendment will grant states the ability to repeal cost driving aspects of Obamacare left in place under the original AHCA. While the revised version still does not fully repeal Obamacare, we are prepared to support it to keep our promise to the American people to lower healthcare costs. We look forward to working with our Senate colleagues to improve the bill. Our work will continue until we fully repeal Obamacare.

The group’s Twitter account later posted the following additional comment:

“The AHCA is not full repeal & there is more work to be done. But because of the hard work of conservatives, we have a better bill today.”

While the House Freedom Caucus was unfairly blamed for the AHCA’s original failure to get the votes needed to pass, moderate Republicans have in fact been the biggest obstacle to getting a full repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. Conservatives and moderates worked together to draft a compromise bill that both sides could support—precluding the need for President Donald Trump to seek a compromise with Democrats, who have so far marched in lockstep in opposition to any changes to health care, despite skyrocketing out-of-pocket costs and loss of insurance options for almost all Americans.

This announcement sets the stage for a potential vote in the House of Representatives yet this week—still within the president’s first 100 days in office—on the legislation. {eoa}