Key Republican Moderate Holds Out On Obamacare Replacement Bill

Congressman Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, speaks with media at Cafe Gulistan in Harbert, Mich., Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016. Upton met with Ibrahim Parlak to discuss ongoing efforts to keep Ibrahim in his Harbert home. Parl... Congressman Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, speaks with media at Cafe Gulistan in Harbert, Mich., Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016. Upton met with Ibrahim Parlak to discuss ongoing efforts to keep Ibrahim in his Harbert home. Parlak, a southwestern Michigan cafe owner who the U.S. government, says hid his ties to a terrorist organization, has been granted a 90-day extension of a deferral that has kept him from being deported. (Bryan Bennett/Kalamazoo Gazette-MLive Media Group via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT MORE LESS
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A key moderate Republican is withholding support from Republicans’ second effort to repeal and replace Obamacare, potentially spelling trouble for the bill.

Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) told Bloomberg Politics Friday of the bill: “I’m not comfortable with it and I told the leadership that.”

Upton is a member of the moderate Tuesday Group, whose co-chair negotiated an amendment to the American Health Care Act with Freedom Caucus Chair Mark Meadows (R-NC).

The amendment allows states to opt out of Obamacare’s protections against premium price discrimination based on medical history, among other things. Though that protection would only expire for insurance applicants who went without coverage for more than 63 days in the prior 12 months, it would also incentivize dual marketplaces for sicker and healthier people, respectively, so that individuals with pre-existing conditions would face higher costs even without the 63-day gap in coverage.

“The issue is potential higher costs to those with pre-existing illnesses,” Upton told Bloomberg. “They’re trying to say that they still maintain access with continuous coverage but the question is what happens on the costs side of the thing.”

“I’ll go back to the premise that Ryan has, and that is if they have the votes, they’ll move it. So, clearly they don’t have the votes,” he added.

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