Conservatives target insurance requirements in Senate health bill

Senate conservatives are signaling that a key way to win their support for a Senate healthcare bill is to repeal more of Obamacare's insurance mandates, but they aren't saying if a requirement that shields sick people from high premiums must be on the table.

Conservative holdouts have complained in recent days that the draft healthcare bill announced last week keeps too many of Obamacare's insurer mandates. However, some of the key holdouts have not said whether the Senate should let states opt out of a mandate called community rating that forbids insurers from charging sick people more money.

A few hours after the Senate GOP leadership introduced its draft healthcare bill, four conservative senators announced they were opposed to it in its current form. The holdouts are Republican Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah.

Several of the holdouts complained that the bill doesn't do enough to lower premiums.

"My central focus from day one has been the need to lower premiums to make health insurance more affordable for families who are struggling," Cruz said shortly after leaving a Senate luncheon Tuesday. "There is not enough in the current draft to do that."