Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-N.J., has developed a widely discussed proposal for uniting conservative and moderate Republicans behind the American Health Care Act bill.
A look at the comments on MacArthur's Facebook page shows how tough trying to win support for a health insurance measure can be.
MacArthur has not yet released a formal version of his proposal, but he says in a Facebook entry that he would let states get waivers from some Affordable Care Act provisions, such as the ban on medical underwriting, if the state provided a high-risk pool, or special health insurance program, for people with health problems.
It's not clear from the Facebook entry what kind of risk pool a state would have to offer to qualify for an ACA requirements waiver, or if MacArthur has proposed setting any federal standards for the risk pools.
MacArthur says, "The amendment will make coverage of pre-existing conditions sancrosanct for all Americans and ensures essential health benefits remains the federal standard."
MacArthur does have personal experience with insurance: He ran York Risk Services Group, a workers' compensation claim management firm, for 11 years.
News organizations are reporting that the MacArthur amendment proposal could help bring the more conservative Republicans in the Freedom Caucus together with the more centrist Republicans in the Tuesday Group, and that a deal could lead to a new vote on the AHCA bill sometime this week.
The AHCA measure would eliminate the ACA individual and employer mandates; create a new system of state health insurance market subsidy grants; and replace the income-based ACA exchange plan tax credits with age-based tax credits.
