Republicans in Congress are scrambling to assure the millions ofAmericans who currently depend on the Affordable Care Act insurancemarket that they will not lose coverage if Congress makes good onits promise to repeal the ACA during the first months of theTrump administration.

Some GOP leaders have said that while they arecommitted to quickly passing legislation to repeal the law, thebill will likely not take effect for up to three years. That allowsRepublicans to claim political victory before they delve into themessy affair of crafting an alternative health care plan.

The problem is, insurers are looking for long-term business, andmany are expected to ditch the marketplace if they know it won’t bearound in three years.

A mass exodus of insurers could lead to the market’s collapse, asituation that GOP lawmakers are trying to prevent in talks withindustry leaders.

GOP sources tell The Hill that Republicans are consideringtrying to keep insurers in the marketplace by offering some type offinancial assistance.

That move may be politically awkward, of course, since it wasRepublicans who derided the ACA’s “risk corridor” program as a bailout ofinsurers. House Republicans also sued the Obama administration overpayments the Department of Health and Human Services was making toinsurers to get them to offer discounted health plans to low-incomecustomers.

“They want to pump money back in to the insurers withoutappearing like they’re giving them a handout or bailing them out,”a lobbyist with knowledge of the talks tells The Hill.

The vision for the ACA replacement remains vague. AlthoughPresident-elect Donald Trump embraced a wide variety of healthpositions throughout his campaign, and signaled support for keyprovisions of Obamacare shortly after the election, his choice forHHS Secretary, Tom Price, is a staunch advocate of market-basedhealth care policies. Price proposed a plan in the past that relieslargely on offering tax credits to help individuals purchaseplans.