New Obamacare overhaul plan gets support from Jordan, Freedom Caucus

Rep. Jim Jordan of Urbana and other House GOP conservatives said they will back a revised health bill aimed at scrapping major sections of the 2010 health law known as Obamacare.

The conservatives, who this March scuttled a health care overhaul bill backed by House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., today rallied behind a compromise that would allow states to opt out of some of Obamacare’s mandates.

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In particular, officials in each state could ask the federal government to waive Obamacare’s requirement that private insurance companies offer individual policies that offer a broad range of medical benefits and prevent them from charging higher premiums for people with pre-existing health conditions.

“While I remain committed to replacing Obamacare entirely, I can support this new version of the bill moving forward,” Jordan said today. “It is our best chance to pass a bill through the House that will actually reduce the cost of health insurance for everyday Americans.”

“I look forward to working with the Senate to further improve this bill, and deliver on the promise that Republicans and the president made to the American people,” Jordan said.

But it was unclear whether the revised bill has any chance of winning enough support from House GOP moderates to gain House approval. It also is very unlikely that the bill could win the 60 votes needed to pass the U.S. Senate.

Matt House, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said House Republicans “have made their bill worse for the health of the American people in order to buy off the” votes of Jordan and other conservatives.”

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