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The Republican congressman who made his name as the instigator of John Boehner’s ouster last year was set to take the reins of the House Freedom Caucus on Monday night. And first up on Rep. Mark Meadows’ to-do list: Torpedoing GOP leadership’s tentative plans to take as long as three years to replace Obamacare. (Bade, 12/5)

A federal judge on Monday agreed to hit pause until the start of the Trump administration on the House GOP’s long-standing legal challenge of ObamaCare payments.  The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Republican leaders, who had requested their case be considered after President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Any actions on the case, known as House v. Burwell, are now postponed until Feb. 21. (Ferris, 12/5)

A federal appeals court has agreed to delay consideration of a lawsuit from Republican lawmakers over the Obama health care law. President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress plan to repeal and replace the law. The three-judge panel in Washington on Monday gave both sides in the case until Feb. 21 to clarify their positions. House Republicans say a change in policy under the new administration could render the case moot. (12/5)

A federal appeals judge said House Republicans’ lawsuit challenging Affordable Care Act subsidies would be placed on hold until Feb. 21, 2017, a move that will give the Trump administration time to decide its next steps. (McIntire, 12/5)

House Speaker Paul Ryan said Monday he envisions an extended transition from Obamacare that ensures “no one is worse off” after Congress votes to repeal the program. The Speaker declined to say how long it would take Republicans to design a replacement so that the millions of people now covered by the Affordable Care Act can be transitioned off it. (Gilbert, 12/5)

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is not shifting his position on how the financial assistance in an ObamaCare replacement would be structured, according to a spokeswoman, after questions were raised by his comments in a “60 Minutes” interview. Ryan told the CBS News program that low-income people should receive more financial assistance to help them afford health insurance than higher-income people. (Sullivan, 12/5)

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said the process for repealing Obamacare will likely start as the next Congress gets going. “I don’t want to set a date, but I would tell you very soon in the new Congress,” McCarthy told reporters Monday. His comments come as some Republicans are coalescing around a plan to repeal the law without a replacement drafted, with a transition period to allow current consumers to maintain coverage as the GOP works to implement a new system. But other Republicans are expressing apprehension with that plan. Sen. Susan Collins may not vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a detailed replacement, the Maine Republican told the Portland Free Press on Friday. (McIntire, 12/ 5)

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said Friday that she’s unlikely to support efforts to privatize Medicare and might not vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act, positions that would put her at odds with Republican party leaders. Though Collins opposed the Affordable Care Act and says it needs many fixes, she might not support repealing the law if a suitable, detailed replacement is not identified. However, Collins stressed in a brief interview Friday that she’s not sure how she would vote on the issue. (Lawlor, 12/3)

Health insurers and regulators are extremely nervous about congressional Republican leaders' announced plans to repeal most of the Affordable Care Act soon after Donald Trump takes over the presidency next month and wait several years to establish a new system. But some insiders say they are encouraged that GOP leaders are slowly recognizing they need to take steps to shore up the fragile individual insurance market that covers nearly 20 million Americans and avoid measures that drive health plans out of the market in 2018. Meanwhile, some state insurance officials are examining what tools they have to keep the insurance market functioning in the event of an ACA repeal early next year. (Meyer, 12/5)

The Obama administration is now on the hook for more than $8 billion in payments to cover insurer losses on the health insurance exchanges, but industry experts are growing doubtful the full tab will ever be paid. At the same time, while Republican lawmakers are committed to sewing up the federal wallet to keep the current administration from paying insurers what they call a “bailout,” they don't want to see the insurance markets collapse under their watch. Any replacement plan for the Affordable Care Act—which President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have vowed to repeal and replace—would require private insurers to jump on board. And alienating them by refusing to pay promised funds would be bad for business, experts say. (Livingston, 12/5)