<p>The Trump Administration seemed to put ObamaCare on the backburner last week following Paul Ryan&rsquo;s decision to cancel the vote on the <em>American Health Care Act</em>, but rumor has it that talks about version 2.0 have already begun. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not going to retrench into our corners or put up dividing lines,&rdquo; said House Speaker Paul Ryan, promising that Congress will resume the effort to repeal the <em>Affordable Care Act.</em> ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;re closer today to repealing ObamaCare than we&rsquo;ve ever been before, and surely even closer than we were Friday,&rdquo; said House Republican whip Steve Scalise. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not a question of if, it&rsquo;s a question of when,&rdquo; added Senator John Thune (R-SD). ;</p>
<p>Ryan hasn&rsquo;t told us what the next version of the healthcare bill will look like, nor has he given us a timeframe. But he did say that lawmakers needed to act soon because insurance companies are in the process of developing premiums and packages for 2018. ;</p>
<p>Despite Trump&#8217;s assurances that another healthcare bill will be drafted &#8220;very quickly,&#8221; White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said there is no immediate plan. &#8220;Have we had some discussions and listened to ideas? Yes. Are we actively planning an immediate strategy? Not at this time.&#8221; ;</p>
<p>One such discussion involved ;White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon and members of the Freedom Caucus, whose constituents Trump has blamed for the bill&rsquo;s failure. ;</p>
<p>Freedom Caucus member Randy Weber (R-TX) said the discussion allowed lawmakers to &ldquo;vent&rdquo; and &ldquo;share their frustration.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>Nearly all members of the far-right Freedom Caucus opposed Trump&rsquo;s original healthcare bill, and earning their support will be necessary in passing future legislation. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;I think everyone wants to get to yes and support President Trump,&rdquo; said Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA), a member of the Freedom Caucus. &ldquo;There is a package in there that is a win-win.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;I think we will have a better, stronger product that will unify the conference,&rdquo; said fellow caucus member Raú;l Labrador (R-ID). ;</p>
<p>Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell discussed the issue with Vice President Mike Pence and fellow Republican senators during a closed-door lunch. &#8220;Where we are on ObamaCare, regretfully, at the moment is where the Democrats wanted us to be, which is with the status quo,&rdquo; complained McConnell. ;</p>
<p>They &ldquo;ought to be pretty happy about that, because we have the existing law in place, and I think we&rsquo;re just going to have to see how that works out. We believe it will not work out well, but we&rsquo;ll see.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>Ryan seemed more optimistic about future negotiations, saying that he wants the GOP to be a &ldquo;unified&rdquo; majority rather than a &ldquo;fractionalized&rdquo; one. &ldquo;That means we&rsquo;re going to sit down and talk things out until we get there, and that&rsquo;s exactly what we&rsquo;re doing.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>Other lawmakers seemed ready to move on with other issues.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m about health-cared out,&rdquo; admits ;Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS). ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;We understand there&rsquo;s probably members in Congress who feel like &lsquo;Look, we probably need to revisit this, and we need to make an effort to get it done,&rsquo;&rdquo; said White House legislative affairs director Marc Short.</p>
<p>&ldquo;But at this time&#8230;there are other things that we have on our priority list that we&rsquo;re moving on to,&rdquo; he said, pointing to the upcoming confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, the April 28th funding deadline, and tax overhaul legislation. ;</p>
<p>Editor&#8217;s note: This is a complex issue, I still expect this to take several months.</p>