--- title: AHCA: How the Revised Bill to Repeal Obamacare Would Work description: The House Freedom Caucus is working on a revised bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Here's how it would work canonical: https://time.com/4726034/ahca-obamacare-repeal-revised-bill/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-05T02:10:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T08:27:05.869Z article:section: Politics og:title: How the Revised Bill to Repeal Obamacare Would Work og:description: Here's what it would do og:url: https://time.com/4726034/ahca-obamacare-repeal-revised-bill/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf28fde631d80dbad/6988c0ba86f68eb2166e4107/freedom-caucus-members-affordable-care-act.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4928 og:image:height: 2772 og:image:alt: 170330_Freedom Caucus members og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How the Revised Bill to Repeal Obamacare Would Work twitter:description: Here's what it would do twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf28fde631d80dbad/6988c0ba86f68eb2166e4107/freedom-caucus-members-affordable-care-act.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 01:44 video:published: 2017-03-24 section: politics topics: health care bill, Affordable Care Act, Obamacare repeal and replace, Republican votes, Democratic support, congressional vote count, health care reform genre: news interview, political commentary tones: defensive, confident, critical, assertive emotions: frustration (high), confidence (medium), blame (high) sentiment: negative audience: policy followers, voters, health care stakeholders, political news readers people: Donald Trump organizations: Republican Party, Democratic Party products: Affordable Care Act, Obamacare content_suitability: politics [00:00-01:44]; health controversy [00:00-01:44] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # How the Revised Bill to Repeal Obamacare Would Work > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=90911f0f-3b30-4890-9aec-bce686ef9871&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump: It's the Democrats' Fault the Health Care Bill Failed [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump: It's the Democrats' Fault the Health Care Bill Failed](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ySPMTcST.m3u8) (1:44)  _Published 2017-03-24. President Donald Trump blamed Democrats on Friday for the failure of the GOP health care bill that would have replaced the Affordable Care Act._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary President Trump, speaking after the failure of a Republican health care bill meant to replace the Affordable Care Act, blames Democrats for the lack of support. He says the Republicans were roughly 10 to 15 votes short and that the lack of Democratic votes made passage difficult. He argues that Obamacare is failing and will get worse, and says a new health care bill will come, possibly with Democratic support, and be better. ## Key points - Trump says Republicans were probably anywhere from 10 to 15 votes short of passing the bill. (00:06) - Trump blames the lack of any Democratic votes for making the bill's passage a difficult situation. (00:28) - Trump says the Affordable Care Act should be left to go its own way for a while. (00:36) - Trump claims Obamacare is imploding and will soon explode, and says it will not be pretty. (00:50) - Trump says he never said the repeal and replacement of Obamacare would happen within 64 days. (01:05) - Trump says he believes that with some Democratic support, a health care bill will happen and be even better the next time around. (01:28) - Trump says the bill that failed was a very good bill. (01:35) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:36] Blaming Democrats for the failed vote. Trump says the bill fell short by roughly 10 to 15 votes and blames the absence of Democratic support. - [00:36 to 01:05] Letting Obamacare play out. Trump says Obamacare should be allowed to run its course and predicts it will implode. - [01:05 to 01:44] Promise of a future health care bill. Trump says a new, better health care bill will come, possibly with Democratic support, and not in the distant future. ## Key quotes - [00:28] President Trump: "But when you get no votes from the other side, meaning the Democrats, it's really a difficult situation." - [00:36] President Trump: "No I think we have to let Obamacare go it's way for a little while, and we'll see how things go." - [00:50] President Trump: "It's imploding, and soon will explode. And it's not gonna be pretty." - [01:05] President Trump: "I never said repeal it and replace it within 64 days." - [01:35] President Trump: "I think this was a very good bill. I think it will be even better The next time around." ## Questions this video answers - Why did the Republican health care bill fail to pass? [00:00] - How many votes was the bill short of passing, according to Trump? [00:06] - Will Trump reach out to Democrats about health care now? [00:36] - What does Trump predict will happen to the Affordable Care Act? [00:50] - Did Trump set a deadline for repealing and replacing Obamacare? [01:05] - Will a new health care bill be passed, and when? [01:28] ## Content suitability - politics [00:00-01:44]: Partisan political commentary blaming opposing party for legislative failure. - health controversy [00:00-01:44]: Discussion of a contested health care bill and claims that the Affordable Care Act is failing. by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Apr 5, 2017 2:10 AM UTC President Donald Trump blamed Democrats on Friday for the failure of the GOP health care bill that would have replaced the Affordable Care Act. by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Apr 5, 2017 2:10 AM UTC Despite the [failure of their health care bill](http://time.com/4714131/donald-trump-republican-gop-freedom-caucus-health-care-ahca/) last month, Republicans are [now making an effort](http://time.com/4724266/trump-pence-health-care-house-freedom-caucus/) to resuscitate it. Meetings between the White House and members of the [conservative Freedom Caucus](http://time.com/4718360/freedom-caucus-donald-trump-what-to-know/) have raised new ideas for a replacement to Obamacare. Republicans hope that this time, enough members of their own party can support the bill’s provisions to pass it in the House. On Tuesday night, Vice President Mike Pence will meet with Republican leaders, including moderates and conservatives, to try to work out some proposals. Party leaders have not committed to a firm timeline, and are hoping to present a draft of a proposal this week. But there is likely to be opposition to parts of the Republican plan, which could strip away the popular parts of Obamacare. Key moderates and conservatives threw cold water on the new effort. “My position remains the same. I’m still opposed to the bill in its current form, even with the changes I’ve heard suggested,” said Rep. Charlie Dent, a moderate Republican from Pennsylvania. Still, the White House is hoping something will change. Here are some ideas Republicans are discussing: ## **Abolish ‘community rating’** One of the Affordable Care Act’s major provisions was a regulation prohibiting insurance companies from charging higher prices for sick people than healthy people. This allowed many sick middle- and low-income people to purchase health care for the first time. It was at the heart of Obamacare’s promise: that insurance companies could not discriminate against you if you were sick. But in order to maintain their bottom lines, insurers received subsidies from the federal government. And in some cases they charged healthy people more in order to balance out their loss in income from the sick. Freedom Caucus members want to see the Obamacare community ratings repealed as a way to reduce premiums. But this plan could push away some moderate Republicans, who worry that repealing the community ratings will gut protections for sick people. One crucial caveat: this proposed step would not abolish the rule at the federal level. Instead, it would be up to states to “opt-out” of the Obamacare regulations, and there is currently discussion about what requirements they would have to meet to be allowed to receive such a waiver. ## **Cut other regulations** Obamacare requires insurance companies to provide certain “essential health benefits” to the insured, including prescription drugs, hospitalization, mental health services and emergency care in required coverage. But many conservatives say the requirements went too far, pointing to maternity care and pediatric services that they say needlessly raise premiums for people who don’t use them. Now that they have a new shot at repealing Obamacare, conservatives in the House want to see more of those regulations repealed. “Two provisions were in the original bill to remove 2 of the 12 \[provisions\] in the insurance mandates,” said Rep. Mark Meadows, chair of the Freedom Caucus. “We have requested as a compromise an additional two of those, which would be essential health benefits and community ratings.” Like community rating, this would also be part of a waiver system allowing states to opt-out. Meadows said Freedom Caucus members may want more provisions removed, too. “That’s not an exhaustive list, and frankly if we’re looking at getting a waiver, that means getting more of those insurance mandates, not less,” he said. “Out-of-pocket, deductibles, things like that.” ## **Keep protections for pre-existing conditions, in name** One of the most popular provisions of Obamacare was a rule prohibiting insurers from denying coverage to people with preexisting conditions. That meant that people with arthritis or allergies could attain coverage for the first time. Conservatives want to keep this measure. Still, repealing the community rating provision, allowing insurers to raise their premiums on the sick, could make health care for people with illnesses prohibitively expensive. This, in turn, would effectively gut the protection for people with preexisting conditions. ## Medicaid: Unclear What we don’t know, however, is what the revived proposal would do with the Medicaid expansion under Obamacare, which provided access to Medicaid for those above the federal poverty line, and the Obamacare tax subsidies, which provided federal assistance for buying health care to those below 400% of the federal poverty line. Whether a new proposal is successful will hinge in large part on how it handles those provisions, too. It’s no wonder that top Republicans are skeptical a deal can happen. “There’s thoughts, and then there’s print. And the prints got to match up with the thought,” said Rep. Paul Gosar, a House Freedom Caucus member who opposed the bill the first time around. ## Transcript [00:00] Pass the bill in the house without any democratic [00:03] support. Why do you think you are enable to craft to [00:04] deal among the republican part? Well, we were very [00:06] close. We were just probably anywhere from 10 to 15 [00:11] votes short. Could've of even been closer than that, [00:14] you'll never know because you never know how they [00:14] vote. But in the end, I think we would've been ten [00:18] votes, maybe closer. And it's very hard to get almost [00:22] 100 %. You're talking about a very, very large [00:26] number of votes among any group. We were very close [00:28] to doing it. But when you get no votes from the other [00:31] side, meaning the Democrats, it's really a difficult [00:34] situation. Will you reach out to Democrats now? No I [00:36] think we have to let Obamacare go it's way for [00:40] a little while, and we'll see how things go. I'd love to [00:43] see it do well, but it can't, I mean it can't. It's not a [00:44] question of gee I hope it does [00:48] well, I would love it to do well. I want great healthcare [00:50] for people of this nation, but it can't do well. It's [00:55] imploding, and soon will explode. And it's not gonna [01:00] be pretty. So the Democrats don't want to see that. So [01:04] they're gonna reach out when they're ready. And [01:05] whenever they're ready, we're ready. And I never said, [01:08] I guess I'm here, what, 64 days, I never said repeal [01:11] and replace Obamacare. You've all heard my [01:13] speeches. I never said repeal it and replace it within [01:17] 64 days. I have a long time But I [01:21] wanna have a great healthcare bill and plan [01:25] and we will. It will happen . And it won't be in the very [01:28] distant future. I really believe that with some Democrat [01:32] support, that will happen and it will be an even better [01:35] bill. I think this was a very good bill. I think it will be [01:38] even better The next time around. And I don't think [01:41] that's gonna be in too long a period of time. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4726034/ahca-obamacare-repeal-revised-bill/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4726034/ahca-obamacare-repeal-revised-bill/"},"headline":"How the Revised Bill to Repeal Obamacare Would Work","datePublished":"2017-04-05T02:10:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-08T08:27:05.869Z","description":"The House Freedom Caucus is working on a revised bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act. 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