GOP leaders seek financing for Obamacare replacement

House Republicans have the basic framework of an Obamacare replacement to show their constituents back home next week, but there's no mention of the hardest part: How to pay for it.

In a 19-page memo sent to lawmakers Thursday, GOP leaders propose to shift Obamacare's subsidies from income-based to age-based, gradually phase out Medicaid expansion and reshape its payments and expand the use of tax-free health savings accounts—all while repealing the Affordable Care Act's taxes.

It gives Republicans, who have faced angry town halls over their plans to repeal the healthcare law, a set of concrete policies during next week's recess to show they're serious about replacing the law instead of just stripping people's coverage away.

But leadership is staying quieter about how to pay for it, working behind the scenes to build consensus around a controversial but lucrative idea: Taxing employer-offered plans above a specified threshold, which could bring in billions of dollars to pay for the health benefits.

While the idea is loved by economists, it's unpopular among some who view it as upending the system of employer-sponsored coverage through which most Americans get their insurance.