Democrats beg GOP to slow down on Obamacare repeal

House Democrats implored Republicans to pump the brakes on a fast-moving plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, saying they were hurtling toward a Thursday vote on legislation that affects millions yet could significantly change before the end of the day.

“Please, please. I would ask my colleagues to slow down, be thoughtful. This is not a game. You don’t get extra points for being fast,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, Massachusetts Democrat.

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, Wisconsin Republican, nudged his weekly press briefing into the afternoon, as Republicans feverishly negotiate changes to get enough GOP members on board with the plan ahead of a planned floor vote late Thursday — the seventh anniversary of Obamacare’s passage.

Holdouts on the House Freedom Caucus were scheduled to lobby for their demands at the White House on Thursday.

They want to eliminate Obamacare’s insurance regulations and requirements known as “essential benefits,” which include things like prescription drugs and maternity care, saying it’s the only change that will bring down premiums, yet leaders worry that doing so would flout budget rules needed to avoid a filibuster in the Senate.

Leaders want to tackle those regulations through executive action and future bills the GOP will write, but conservatives say that’s a flimsy guarantee that will require Democratic buy-in.

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan also is trying to maintain the careful balance struck between conservatives and centrists, and fears a bill that leans too far to the right would be unworkable for the Senate.

Rep. Charlie Dent, Pennsylvania Republican, announced his opposition to the bill late Tuesday, a major defection that underscores growing unrest among centrist members who will be needed to balance out any conservatives who cannot be mollified by last-minute changes.

Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, Washington Republican, added Thursday to the steady drip of moderates who are bailing on the plan. She said too many children would “fall through the cracks” under the plan.

Republicans can’t afford to lose more than 22 votes on the floor, since no Democrats will support the current plan, which repeals most of Obamacare’s taxes and its mandate requiring Americans to hold insurance, replaces its generous subsidies with refundable, age-based tax credits and reins in and caps spending on Medicaid, the insurance program for the poor.

Democrats said they’re not even sure what the final product will look like — negotiations continue — or if they’ll get an updated analysis from the Congressional Budget Office on how federal deficits and the currently insured would be affected by a last-minute overhaul.

“Every time we get the bill, it changes,” Mr. McGovern said.