Clock Winding Down: Will GOP Health Care Overhaul Make It over Key Hurdle?

WASHINGTON – It's make or break time for the GOP health care plan designed to replace Obamacare, with the next 24 to 36 hours being critical for the controversial bill.

House Speaker Paul Ryan's American Healthcare Act of 2017 was fiercely debated Thursday by the House Rules Committee.

Committee Chairman Pete Sessions, R-Texas, defended the measure, saying HR1628 would mean more choice, more competition and less cost for Americans.

Sessions noted that the premiums have increased 25 percent this year on the health exchanges where people shop for coverage and that millions of Americans had to give up health plans they liked.

"Will it save the American health care system? Yes. Is it going to be something we're going to have to work with for quite some time? Yes also," he said on CNN's "New Day."

Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said, "We are down to a single provider and our rates are going up 69 percent - for my state, this is an improvement."

The House Rules Committee is now determining the conditions under which the House will vote on the Republican-led health care legislation on Thursday.

The bill needs 216 votes to pass.

"As you know, this was a compromise bill. This was not the one we originally started with, nor was it the one I wanted," Sessions said.

"But just because it's not what I want doesn't mean that it's not two-thirds of a good bill that has then become a compromise material that we're going to have to work on," he added. "So I believe we can pass it."

If the American Healthcare Act hits its mark and passes the House, then the next stop is the Senate. If things go well there, it's still not over until the House and Senate agree on a final version.

President Donald Trump hopes to have the new health care bill on his desk in April.