UPDATE: (sigh) Here we go again: "Some Republicans Think They May Have A Health Care Deal"

 

UPDATE: ...or, perhaps not. Latest word is that there's basically little to see here; lots of big talk about pushing forward but very little action. Or perhaps there will be next week, who the heck knows? Wash, rinse, repeat.

On March 24th, just after the AHCA (Trumpcare) bill was yanked from the House floor with literally minutes to go, I posted the following headline:

CELEBRATE A FEW HOURS. Then come back and read this.

Well, according to Matt Fuller and Jonathan Cohn of the Huffington Post, Trumpcare 2: Electric Boogaloo may indeed be a go:

GOP moderates and conservatives are nearing a deal on health care that in theory could get the Republican alternative to the Affordable Care Act out of the House and over to the Senate. The changes also might move Republicans even further away from passage ― no one really knows.

The deal, brokered between House Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Tuesday Group co-chairman Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.), would allow states to get waivers eliminating the so-called community rating provision ― the rule that prohibits insurers from charging higher premiums to people with pre-existing conditions. In order to obtain the waiver, states would have to participate in a federal high-risk pool or establish their own, and satisfy some other conditions.

In exchange for that conservative concession, the amendment would reinstate the Essential Health Benefits that were already taken out of the bill ― though, again, states could waive those provisions as well if they were able to show that doing so would lower premiums, increase the number of people insured, or “advance another benefit to the public interest in the state.”

The article goes on to note that none of this is certain yet, and even if it is, there's no gaurantee that it'd go to a vote, and even if it went to a vote, no guarantee that it'd pass, and even if it passed the House, it'd almost certainly be killed in the Senate.

Even so, Paul Ryan & Co. want those tax cuts for the super-rich, dammit so apparently they're gonna try dipping into this well one more time no matter what...

Anyway, just on the off chance that this becomes a Thing again, here's three key links:

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