Possible modifications being considered include phasing out the Medicaid expansion quicker, from the current Dec. 31, 2019 date to the beginning of 2018, and moving changes supposed to occur in the insurance market from 2020 to 2018.

“I think the changes that the conservatives want are more and more likely,” said a second White House official.

Meanwhile, White House officials have called a number of conservative groups that oppose the current plan and “promised flexibility,” several people familiar with the calls said. Several conservative lawmakers also characterized the conversations as positive.

“I think we are having very meaningful conversations that will lead to action,” said Rep. Mark Sanford, a South Carolina Republican and member of the House Freedom Caucus, who is seeking changes. “My sense is there is a willingness to incorporate.”

Chief strategist Stephen Bannon over the weekend spoke privately with Rep. Mark Meadows, the North Carolina Republican who heads the influential Freedom Caucus. The group of conservative agitators opposes the current bill, but sources said the two are trying to find a way Trump could win conservative support for the legislation. A number of other White House officials also spoke to Meadows, administration officials said.

Both Bannon and Meadows declined to comment on their ongoing conversations.

The move toward the far right comes at an odd time: The Congressional Budget Office on Monday predicted that as many 24 million people would lose insurance by 2026 under the plan — a number that’s likely to spook moderates and centrist Republicans who want the bill to move toward the center.

The White House, however, has made a calculation that they need to beef up conservative support for the plan, a decision that comes about a week after conservative lawmakers and outside groups bashed the House plan as “Obamacare lite.” White House officials said they increasingly felt pressured because of the need to cross their immediate political hurdle — the House of Representatives. They want to make sure the bill gets through the House floor, aware that a political setback there could doom the measure before it ever gets a chance to build any momentum. Then, they will turn to negotiations with senators, who likely won’t like some of the House changes, but they can cross that bridge “when we get to it,” one person said.

“We have to get to the bridge first,” this official added.

It’s unclear what exactly the olive branch offered by Trump, who can send aides scrambling with a change-of-heart based on a conversation or a news media report, will look like. In addition to Medicaid changes, some White House officials are also pushing for the inclusion of provisions making it easier to buy health care across state lines. Senate budget rules, however, bar the upper chamber from including on a fast-tracked bill any provisions that don’t have a significant budgetary effect.

Rep. Dave Brat on Monday told POLITICO conservatives were asking the White House to back these kinds of free-market provisions. The Virginia Republican said the Freedom Caucus is also encouraging Trump officials to press for provisions that would enact into law any deregulations Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price plans to make administratively for the insurance market.

“Trump ran on this competition across state lines, bringing the price down, and so, that is the huge piece that, I think, if we can get that in the bill, then I think we can make some progress and I think get a lot of people to yes,” Brat said.

So while GOP leaders, including Speaker Paul Ryan, adamantly support the idea of allowing people to purchase insurance across state lines, they don’t think it can be included on the replacement bill under Senate rules.

Conservatives are unlikely to get everything they want, however: Two officials, along with others briefed on the plan on Capitol Hill, said the White House is not wavering on supporting tax credits for people to buy insurance — even though conservatives had panned them as a new “entitlement program.”

The manager’s amendments are likely to bring additional savings, according to the White House officials, and would help the plan get through the House, where the Freedom Caucus has lined up opposition against the plan. But it would likely make passage in the Senate more difficult, several Capitol Hill officials said. That’s because many Senate Republicans — and more than a few House GOP lawmakers — hail from states that took the Medicaid expansion, and they’re unlikely to support a quick phase-out of the expanded program.

“The problem with that is you’ve got a lot of our members in the more blue states that accepted the expansion,” said Trump Hill ally Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.). “It puts a lot more pressure on the states for costs.”

Collins said the White House is “very open” to amendments, and he’s looking to make one himself that involves New York.

Concessions to the right mark a major change from the White House’s positioning over the past week. After Ryan introduced the last bill Monday, Trump backed it in it’s original form, calling it “great” on Twitter. He promised two dozen House GOP whips that he’d do anything in his power to get them the votes for passage. And soon after, he began tweeting at bill critic Senator Rand Paul that he “will come along with the new and great health care program.” He also spent the past week trying to woo members of the caucus with lunches and phone calls. And counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway told private groups that the time for negotiation and new ideas was all but over.

Now, however, some top White House officials feel they need to offer something to the far-right to alleviate their concerns. Those officials say they hope Ryan’s team understands the changes could bring votes.

It is unclear how House GOP leadership will react to a push by the administration to phase-out Medicaid sooner. Ryan, who crafted and is shepherding the legislation, has found himself in difficult position trying to balance conservatives’ vocal demands and the private worries from centrist Republicans who fear a political blow-back.

Leadership sources, however, have not ruled out changes to the bill altogether, and many senior House GOP sources believe there might be a manager’s amendment. But they have to ensure the changes will get several conservatives to “yes” if it’s actually made, while maintaining moderate Republican support. They can only afford to lose 21 Republican votes.

“Nobody likes the bill. I don’t like it either. That’s why I think it’s so good. The far left doesn’t like it. The far right doesn’t like it. The middle doesn’t like it. It’s called compromise,” said Collins, the New York Republican. “I think that’s what makes it a good compromise.”