Republicans try last-minute fix to prevent health bill collapse

Congressional Republicans are making last-ditch efforts to win over the remaining holdouts on their health care bill, with moderates pitching a new amendment and the White House saying a vote could come later this week.

Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan is crafting the amendment, supported by party leaders, to gain crucial centrist support to resuscitate the bill to repeal most of former President Barack Obama's health care law, according to the Associated Press.

The White House is still optimistic for a vote before the House recess next week, with budget director Mick Mulvaney telling Fox News on Wednesday that the chamber might vote on the health bill as early as Saturday. Mulvaney said he believes the amendment by Upton - who became perhaps the most significant Republican defection yet on Tuesday - will help draw moderates' support for the legislation.

The efforts come after House Speaker Paul Ryan told Republicans Tuesday to 'pray” as they try to win over holdouts. Rep. Dennis Ross of Florida, a senior member of the House vote-counting team, described Republicans' closed-door meeting and said they are about 'five votes away” from the number needed to pass the bill.

'Now is the time,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told House Republicans, adding that they should be prepared to vote Wednesday or Thursday on the measure.

A significant number of moderates remain opposed. A Bloomberg News count found at least 21 members opposed to the latest version. Republicans can only afford to lose 22 votes and guarantee passage.

Until last year, Upton was chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over much of health care policy. He has been a staunch supporter of Obamacare repeal.

'I told the leadership I cannot support the bill with this provision in it,” Upton said about changes made to requirements about covering people with pre-existing conditions. 'It's not going to get my ‘yes' vote the way it is.”

President Donald Trump will meet with Upton and another prominent party member who's come out against the bill, Rep. Billy Long of Missouri, at the White House Wednesday in an attempt to muster support for the legislation, according to Politico.

As of Monday night, Ross said that even the Republican vote-counting team isn't entirely on board with backing the revised health care measure, adding that as many as seven of its members hadn't yet committed to doing so.

'The longer we wait, the more it's going to fester,” he said.

Ryan tried to boost the pressure on Republican moderates to advance the bill. According to Ross, Ryan told Republicans, 'This is who we are. This will define us.”

Ross also quoted McCarthy as saying, 'It's no longer about what we should do or how we should do it. Now is the time to do it.”

'We're just a handful of votes away,” House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows of North Carolina said Tuesday.

Meadows said he didn't think there would be additional changes to the measure.

'There's always those prospects, but at this point you have to figure out whether you're going to gain or lose votes based on that,” he said. 'That will be a hard calculation right now.”

Several Republicans, including Rep. Brian Mast of Florida, say they're still undecided.

One problem is that recent changes made to the bill to win over conservative holdouts have alienated some GOP moderates.

Under an amendment to the Republican plan, states could let insurers charge older customers more than the original bill allowed - at least five times more than younger ones, beginning in 2018. States could also allow insurers to charge higher premiums for people with pre-existing conditions who have had a gap in coverage of at least 63 days in the prior year.