Centrist lawmakers unveil ACA plan amid House, Senate scramble

• The framework, backed by 35 House Republicans and Democrats, has yet to draw buy-in from GOP leadership. Members told Axios they haven't heard from them.
• Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has vowed to bring something on health care to the floor before the end of the year, though details are sparse.
• "We got tired of waiting," Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.), the GOP lead on the proposal, said. "We got tired of hearing from both Democrats, Republicans, House and Senate, that there's this plan. What is the plan? We never heard the plan. So we put a plan together."

Zoom in: The proposal includes a two-year extension of the ACA tax credits — along with income caps, possible pay-fors and other guardrails.

• It would require the implementation of further reforms to be voted on no later than July 1 — four months before the midterm elections.
• Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) said he's been in touch with the White House about the plan, though members said they want a sit-down meeting with President Trump.
• The members urged leaders to bring their framework up for a vote before Dec. 18. The enhanced tax credits are due to expire at the end of the year.

The latest: Kiggans met with Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) Thursday morning to discuss the group's framework, sources told Axios.

• She urged Scalise to bring the bill based on their framework to the floor, noting it would receive bipartisan support and is gaining momentum, one of the sources told Axios.
• Scalise told reporters prior to the meeting, that the group's framework has not been a part of the package being discussed but noted that Kiggans has been involved in several of the health care meetings over the last few weeks.
• "We're going to come up with something that I think even people like Jen would support," he said.

What they're saying: "There are a lot of bills out there with a lot of different ideas. We feel like this is a good kind of compilation of those different ideas," Kiggans said. "It's not set in stone as a bill."

• "Doing nothing is not an option," Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) said. "Let's be honest, this has not exactly been the finest hour for the U.S. House of Representatives. Over the last several months, the House has been missing in action in a lot of ways."

State of play: Scalise has been holding "listening sessions" with committee leaders and rank-and-file Republicans to find a consensus GOP plan.

• House Democrats, meanwhile, filed a discharge petition for a clean three-year extension — the same approach Senate Democrats say they'll put on the floor next week. Senate Republicans are expected to counter with their own proposal.
• No Republicans have signed the discharge petition, and few seem inclined to. Still, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), the Democratic lead on the centrist framework, said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is open to a bipartisan solution.
• Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) is also floating a plan that mirrors a White House proposal that was postponed after conservative pushback.

Reality check: A sizable bloc of conservative Republicans remain firmly opposed to extending the subsidies in any form.

• Abortion restrictions have emerged as a major sticking point, and the centrist framework's omission of them is likely to draw resistance from the right.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.