by Itunuoluwa Adebo

Republicans in the US. House of Representatives said Tuesday that they were closer to agreeing on a reworked bill to overhaul the nation’s healthcare system but still lacked the votes to pass it.

After the first effort to repeal and replace the Affordable care act known as Obamacare failed in March, the White House has been pressuring House Republicans to push ahead with legislation.  “I think it’s time now” for a healthcare vote, Trump told lawmakers at the White House on Tuesday.

Republican leaders, are once again struggling to balance the concerns of moderates, who want to protect Americans with pre-existing medical conditions, with the reluctance of conservatives to make changes.

Representative Mark Meadows of North Carolina, who heads the staunchly conservative House Freedom Caucus that helped block passage of the first bill, said Republicans were still “a handful of votes away.”

Representative Tom MacArthur of New Jersey, a Republican moderate who brokered a deal that revived the healthcare legislation, said there were still some moderates in the party sitting on the fence.

“It’s close. It’s close. We’re getting there,” MacArthur said.

Lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow states to opt out of Obamacare protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions provisions that force insurers to charge sick people and healthy people the same rates.

Republicans, remain divided over key provisions of the bill, with some lawmakers expressing worries of a spike in the number of people without coverage, or sharp increases in insurance premiums.

“They’re still talking about possible changes. If they don’t have the votes, then they’ll have to make changes,” Representative Peter King of New York, a Republican moderate, told reporters, indicating he would likely vote for the bill.

But any tack to the center to shore up moderates’ support threatens to spur defections on the Republican right flank.

“They change it one iota, I’m out,” Representative Dave Brat of Virginia, a Freedom Caucus member, told reporters.