This Article is From Mar 21, 2010

US: Voting on Health Bill today

US: Voting on Health Bill today
Washington: US President Barack Obama rallied House Democrats on Saturday for a final push on healthcare reform as party leaders appeared confident they had overcome a flare-up over abortion funding restrictions in the legislation.

Building on Democrats' momentum, House leaders decided on a straight up-or-down vote on the legislation - a top priority for Obama and the defining issue of his first year in office - backing off a much-challenged plan to vote on the bill indirectly.

With the vote scheduled for Sunday, Obama decided to make a final personal appeal with a Saturday afternoon visit to the Capitol.

The president spoke after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid reassured House rank and file that the Senate will complete the legislation.

More than 50 Democratic senators have signed a pledge to do, Reid's spokesman said.
"Is this the single most important step that we have taken on health care since Medicare?" Obama asked lawmakers. "Absolutely."

The legislation, affecting virtually every American and more than a year in the making, would extend coverage to an estimated 32 (m) million uninsured, bar insurers from denying coverage on the basis of existing medical conditions and cut federal deficits by an estimated 138 (b) billion US dollars over a decade.

Congressional analysts estimate the cost of the two bills combined would be 940 (b) billion US dollars over a decade.

Republicans, unanimous in opposition to the bill, complained anew about its cost and reach.
One option on abortion emerged on Saturday - an executive order from Obama - that would reflect long-standing law barring federal aid for abortions except for cases of rape, incest or when the mother's life is in danger.

Party leaders saw that approach as crucial to winning the support of anti-abortion Democrats for the healthcare bill.

It was unclear whether the strategy would win support from conservatives who are opposing the health bill unless tight restrictions are included.

Scrambling to gather the 216 votes needed for passage in the House, Democratic leaders and Obama focused last-minute lobbying efforts on two groups of Democrats: 37 who voted against an earlier bill in the House and 40 who voted for it only after first making sure it would include strict abortion limits that now have been modified.

Leaders worked late into Friday night attempting to resolve the dispute over abortion, and on Saturday morning they were increasingly confident it would not scuttle the bill.

The House Rules Committee worked through the day Saturday to set the terms for the vote.
Democratic leaders dropped plans to employ a controversial procedure known as "deem and pass."

Under that procedure, a single vote would have been held in the House to endorse the health reform bill approved by the Senate last year as well as a package of fixes to it.

That procedure has been used in the past by both parties but its use has been widely criticized for legislation as massive as a health care overhaul.

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