House Freedom Caucus, Moderates Closing in on Healthcare Compromise?

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The deal — brokered by centrist Tuesday Group co-chair Tom MacArthur of New Jersey and hard-right Freedom Caucus head Mark Meadows of North Carolina — proposes giving states more flexibility to opt out of major Obamacare provisions, while preserving popular protections like the law’s ban on discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions...the latest proposal would allow states to apply for "limited waivers" that would undermine Obamacare's protections for pre-existing conditions. Under these waivers, states could opt out of Obamacare standards setting minimum benefits that health plans must offer and a requirement — called community rating — forbidding insurers from charging different prices to people based on health status. Both are provisions that the GOP’s ultraconservatives have pushed to eliminate as part of the repeal effort, contending that these coverage mandates drive up the cost of insurance. States opting out of the community rating rules would be forced to set up separate insurance pools, known as high-risk pools, where people priced out of the private market could purchase coverage. At the same time, the deal would allow states the option of maintaining insurance protections, supported by centrist Republicans, including community rating. MacArthur said in a statement Thursday that he has insisted during the discussions that any compromise have protections for pre-existing conditions.

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Actually, this is a path forward.
The AHCA is privatized obamacare. Unfettered preservation of PECs means it won't save money. But there are obviously a slew of weak-kneed Repubs lacking guts to remove the PEC provision. The only thing the AHCA would have accomplished is to move healthcare to the Senate and continue discussion with possibility of compromise. If it passed, it could have been easily amended.

So this preserves those small advantages, but additionally allows states to simply opt out. When those states opt out, premiums will drop precipitously. Other states will follow suit.

If this effort does not pass, the same mechanism could be used to unwind obamacare. Wind down subsidies, while ending state mandates. Let Obamacare implode as states replace it with affordable plans.