Rep. Mark Meadows, the leader of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, reportedly got emotional after reading about the potential effects of the House GOP's healthcare bill on sick Americans.

According to Haley Byrd at the Independent Journal Review and Robert King at the Washington Examiner, reporters showed Meadows a section of the Congressional Budget Office's report on the American Health Care Act, which passed the House with only Republican votes on May 2.

The section Meadows viewed pertained to preexisting conditions. The report said people with preexisting conditions in states that could accept a new waiver from an AHCA provision could see their premiums skyrocket and possibly even be priced out of the insurance market.

IJR's Byrd reported that Meadows was "surprised" when he was shown section that outlined the potential negative effects. After reading it, he became "emotional and choked back tears."

RELATED: A look at the contentious battle over the American Health Care Act



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Following weeks of in-party feuding and mounting pressure from the White House, lawmakers voted 217 to 213 to pass a bill dismantling much of Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act and allowing US states to opt out of many of the law's key health benefit guarantees / AFP PHOTO / Mandel NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner listen to US President Donald Trump speak in the Rose Garden of the White House following the House of Representative vote on the health care bill on May 4, 2017 in Washington, D Following weeks of in-party feuding and mounting pressure from the White House, lawmakers voted 217 to 213 to pass a bill dismantling much of Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act and allowing US states to opt out of many of the law's key health benefit guarantees / AFP PHOTO / Mandel NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) UNITED STATES - MARCH 9: Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., conducts a presentation in the House studio of the American Health Care Act, the GOP's plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, March 9, 2017. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 07: U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price compares a copy of the Affordable Care Act (R) and a copy of the new House Republican health care bill (L) during the White House daily press briefing March 7, 2017 at the White House in Washington, DC. Secretary Price answered questions on the new healthcare bill during the briefing. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan speaks to the media about the American Health Care Act at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S. March 15, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 13: U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price (L) and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney talk to reporters following the release of the Congressional Budget Office report on the proposed American Health Care Act outside the White House West Wing March 13, 2017 in Washington, DC. Price said 'We disagree strenuously' with the findings of the CBO report about the Republican's attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Speaker of the House Paul Ryan speaks at a news conference about Congressional efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. March 9, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 10: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence (4th L) delivers remarks at the beginning of a meeting with representatives of conservative political organizations to discuss the American Health Care Act in the Indian Treaty Room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building March 10, 2017 in Washington, DC. Pence and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price led the meeting that included representatives from the Cato Institute, Tea Party Patriots, the American Conservative Union, Freedom Works, the American Legislative Exchange Council and other conservative groups. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan speaks to the media about the American Health Care Act at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S. March 15, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 10: (L-R) U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and President Donald Trump greet House of Representatives committee leaders (L-R) House Budget Committee Chairwoman Diane Black (R-TN), Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-WA) and Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) before a meeting to discuss the American Health Care Act in the Roosevelt Room at the White House March 10, 2017 in Washington, DC. The proposed legislation is the Republican attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan speaks to the media about the American Health Care Act at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S. March 15, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price speaks about efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare and the advancement of the American Health Care Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 17, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts A copy of Obamacare repeal and replace recommendations (L) produced by Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives sit next to a copy of the Affordable Care Act known as Obamacare as U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price addresses the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S. March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria (L-R) U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and U.S. Representative Greg Walden hold a news conference on the American Health Care Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. March 7, 2017. 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House Republicans yesterday released details on their plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, with a more conservative agenda that includes individual tax credits and grants for states replacing federal insurance subsidies. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer (L) looks on as US Secretary of Health and Human Service Tom Price (R) points to a print-out of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and a copy of the new plan introduced to repeal and replace the ACA during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, DC on March 7, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / JIM WATSON (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 07: House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) (L) and House Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) (R) answer questions during a news conference on the newly announced American Health Care Act at the U.S. Capitol March 7, 2017 in Washington, DC. 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"Listen, I lost my sister to breast cancer," Meadows said, according to Byrd. "I lost my dad to lung cancer. If anybody is sensitive to preexisting conditions, it's me. I'm not going to make a political decision today that affects somebody's sister or father because I wouldn't do it to myself."

The Examiner similarly reported that Meadows became "emotional" upon reading the report.

Meadows told reporters that he would support changes to the bill in the Senate to properly fund high-risk pools to protect those with preexisting conditions. He said that if the bill did not have "enough funding there to handle preexisting conditions and drive down premiums ... then we will have failed."

The waivers were added in an amendment from Rep. Tom MacArthur weeks after the AHCA was pulled from a House floor vote in March — in part because of a lack of support from Meadow's Freedom Caucus.

The amendment, which the CBO cited as the primary reason for undermining preexisting-condition protections, helped win over Meadows nearly 20 members of the Freedom Caucus to support the bill's eventual passage.

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SEE ALSO: CBO says GOP healthcare bill would leave 23 million more uninsured, undermine protections for people with preexisting conditions