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| Vice President Mike Pence. |
Vice President Mike Pence and other top administration officials were offering to let states request federal exemptions from insurance coverage requirements imposed by President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
About two dozen top GOP lawmakers met for two hours on Tuesday evening with Pence and other White House officials, but participants said differences remained over giving states flexibility to drop those mandates. Meetings will continue on Wednesday.
"It was a very good exchange of ideas, with concerns that represent the very broad spectrum of our conference," said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who leads the conservative House Freedom Caucus.
The group's roughly three dozen members have largely opposed the GOP legislation for not repealing enough of Obama's law.
At the White House, Pence said he and President Donald Trump "remain confident that working with the Congress we will repeal and replace Obamacare".
'The conceptual stage'
But there was no evidence that the proposal won over any GOP opponents who'd forced Trump and party leaders to beat an unceremonious retreat on their bill on March 24, when they cancelled a House vote that was doomed to failure.
"We want to make sure that when we go, we have the votes to pass this bill," House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., told reporters.
He said talks were in "the conceptual stage" and declined to predict a vote before Congress leaves town shortly for a two-week recess when lawmakers could face antagonistic grilling from voters at town hall meetings.
Later in the day, Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., his party's chief vote counter, said talks were not at "a place where there is consensus" on health care and indicated a vote this week was unlikely.
Under the White House proposal, states could apply for a federal waiver from a provision in Obama's statute obliging insurers to cover "essential health benefits", including mental health, maternity and substance abuse services.
The current version of the GOP legislation would erase that coverage requirement but let states reimpose it themselves, language that is opposed by many moderates.
In addition, the White House would let states seek an exemption to the law's provision banning insurers from charging higher premiums for seriously ill people. Conservatives have argued that such restrictions inflate consumers' costs.