White House officials and lawmakers continue to discuss healthcare reform, although no decisions have been made regarding Republican efforts to overhaul the ACA, reports Reuters.
Here are six things to know.
1. On Monday, Republican leaders proposed a new plan that would allow states to waive the essential health benefits requirement under the ACA as well as the law's community rating.
2. The next day, Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials met with members of republican congressional factions including the moderate Tuesday Group, the conservative Republican Study Committee and the conservative and libertarian House Freedom Caucus, according to the report. Lack of full support from the Freedom Caucus played a key role in last month's decision to pull the American Health Care Act from the House floor. The group has claimed the AHCA needed to go further is dismantling the ACA.
3. In the report, Vice President Pence described the meeting as "good talk, good progress."
4. One issue brought up during Tuesday's meeting involved a proposal to establish a "backstop" to protect individuals with chronic illnesses in high-risk pools from seeing cost surges in insurance premiums if other ACA provisions are repealed, Freedom Caucus leader Mark Meadows said in the report.
5. Still, Tuesday's meeting did not result in an agreement on bill text or final decisions regarding efforts to overhaul the ACA, reports Reuters.
6. Talks are slated to resume this week. At that time, the discussion will involve the popular ACA provision related to pre-existing conditions, as well as whether to allow states to waive the ACA's essential health benefits requirement, Republican Study Committee Chairman Mark Walker said in the report.