"I can’t go for that," Collins said, referring to charging people more if they have pre-existing conditions. She said she would need assurances that high-risk pools would be adequately funded.
Cassidy and Collins are pushing a different framework that would keep the Obamacare taxes and allow states to keep the Affordable Care Act largely in place if they prefer, or move to a more market-based system.
On the conservative side, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky has said he doesn’t like the House bill’s plan to maintain some subsidies to insurance companies.
Republican Representative Dave Brat of Virginia, a Freedom Caucus member who decided to back the bill with the amendment letting states let insurers charge higher prices for pre-existing conditions, warned that the Senate can’t make any changes to the bill and keep House conservatives on board.
"Not at all, none," he said of any Senate adjustments. "It’s about time they got a dose of medicine. They better not change it one iota."
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.