Conservative House Freedom Caucus ready to back latest GOP healthcare bill

The conservative House Freedom Caucus is prepared to support a reworked U.S. healthcare reform bill even though it would not fully repeal former President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, the group said in a statement on Wednesday.

"While the revised version still does not fully repeal Obamacare, we are prepared to support it to keep our promise to the American people to lower healthcare costs," the House Freedom Caucus said in a statement posted on the website of its chairman, Republican Representative Mark Meadows.

Republican leaders in the House of Representatives had tried to move a healthcare overhaul bill last month to make good on one of President Donald Trump's top campaign promises, but opposition from the party's conservative ranks helped doom the effort.

In its statement, the House Freedom Caucus said it welcomed an amendment that would let states seek waivers from Obamacare requirements that insurers cover pre-existing conditions.

The amendment was hammered out between Meadows and Representative Tom MacArthur, a leader of the so-called Tuesday Group of Republican moderates in the House.

The legislation would need to garner support from both Republican moderates and conservatives to win passage, given widespread Democratic opposition.

(Reporting by Timothy Ahmann; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Tom Brown)