WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House and House Republicans appear short of a last-ditch deal on their long-promised repeal of Barack Obama's health care law. And in an unexpected twist, "Obamacare" — never very popular — seems to be rising in public opinion polls.

House Speaker Paul Ryan with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy after a news conference on Capitol Hill in June after a House Republican caucus meeting. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster WASHINGTON — The White House and House Republicans appear short of a last-ditch deal on their long-promised repeal of Barack Obama's healthcare law. And in an unexpected twist, "Obamacare" — never very popular — seems to be rising in public opinion polls.

"There's no suggestion we should be changing our flights," moderate Rep. Chris Collins, a New York Republican, said Wednesday afternoon, a day before lawmakers were slated to leave Washington for their two-week recess. "We're going home ... without a deal."

From the party's right flank, Freedom Caucus member Rep. Mark Sanford of South Carolina said: "I've heard nothing of substance at this point that would break the logjam."

The Thursday schedule from House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, delivered the hard truth — no health bill vote.

Two weeks ago, House Speaker Paul Ryan was forced to call off a floor vote on a GOP measure to repeal much of the Obama-era Affordable Care Act, the healthcare law better known as Obamacare. The GOP legislation replacing it would have scaled back the federal role in healthcare, covering 24 million fewer people over time, while also cutting taxes for upper-income earners.

Then as now, deep differences among hardliners and moderates impeded the Republican march. Each side blames the other. The congressional recess could drain more momentum from the repeal drive, though many Republicans say individually they're not giving up.

At the same time, weeks of truth-or-consequences debate on Capitol Hill may be shifting public attitudes on the ACA, which has remained divisive since Democrats passed it in 2010 without any Republican support.

Gallup this week said the law gained majority approval for the first time, with 55% supporting it and 41% disapproving. It was the first majority for Obamacare since Gallup started asking the question in the same format in November 2012. It marked a major shift from five months ago, when 42% approved and 53% disapproved.

Another nonpartisan survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found relief that Congress had not managed to repeal the health law. It showed that three in four Americans wanted the Trump administration to make the law work. About two in three said they were glad the House GOP bill didn't pass. But people split evenly between wanting to keep or repeal the statute.

Unwelcome fallout from translating the GOP vision into practical policy seems to be contributing to the party's difficulty selling its plans.

President Donald Trump talking about the gas attack in Syria as he held a joint news conference Wednesday with King Abdullah of Jordan. Reuters

For example, experts said the latest idea floated this week would raise premiums for people with medical problems.

Roughed out in negotiations between the White House and leaders of the conservative Freedom Caucus, the idea would allow states to seek waivers of two ACA requirements. One, known as community rating, forbids insurers from charging higher premiums on account of people's medical problems or preexisting conditions. The other is the essential-health-benefits provision that spells out categories of benefits all insurance plans must cover.

Conservatives who want the federal government out of healthcare argue that those provisions have driven up premiums and decreased choice. The idea is to put states back in charge of insurance rules, reasoning that doing so would increase the availability of plans with lower premiums, attractive to younger, healthier customers.

But healthcare industry consultant Robert Laszewski said it would also open a "back door" to a system where the sick can get priced out of coverage.

"It's hard for me to believe that any state would take us back ... when it comes to the protections that consumers have for preexisting conditions," Laszewski said. "There is no doubt that Obamacare as a system is not working very well, but nobody wants to go backward."

Republicans say their bill includes a fallback option for people with health problems. It would create a $100 billion fund that states can use for a variety of purposes, including high-risk insurance pools where people with medical problems would seek get coverage.

But Trish Riley, the executive director of the National Academy for State Health Policy, said those didn't work well in the past. Patients tended to be very sick, and premiums were often too expensive.

"There would be real challenges for people with illnesses to get affordable coverage," Riley said. "You will get guaranteed access to coverage, but you won't be able to afford it." Her nonpartisan organization offers policy advice to states.

Trump administration officials and leading GOP legislators said they were not giving up trying to find common ground between conservatives and moderates. Ryan and McCarthy met with Pence at the White House on Wednesday night to discuss their next steps on healthcare, an aide to Ryan said. They also talked briefly with President Donald Trump.

Democrats were dismissive. "It's as if the president and Paul Ryan went to some of the Republicans and the Freedom Caucus and said, 'We can make this worse,'" Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois said.

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Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.