Free Republic

Let's see if this does the trick. House Republican leaders, looking to jump-start their floundering effort to repeal and replace Obamacare, on Thursday said they were proposing creating a $15 billion federal high-risk pool that would provide insurance coverage to Americans with pre-existing and often serious health issues. Speaker Paul Ryan said the provision would "lower premiums" for other, healthier people who buy individual health plans by shifting the risk of covering higher health-care users to the federal risk pool. Ryan, R-Wis., also said it "gets us closer together, closer to that consensus" needed to pass the GOP replacement bill....

An amendment to the GOP's repeal plan would dole out $15 billion to insurers over nine years to help cover the costs of sick, expensive patients. Lawmakers say the new funds would bring down premiums for healthy people by subsidizing medical costs for people with especially high expenses. Under ObamaCare, insurers are required to charge everyone of the same age the same amount for premiums, regardless of their medical history or conditions. That means costs are spread out among healthy and sick people, and insurers would essential pass those costs on to healthy people. The $15 billion would help subsidize...