WASHINGTON — With Democrats increasingly confident they have enough support, the House of Representatives planned Saturday for a historic vote today that would enact the most dramatic changes in the nation’s health care system in decades.
As a sign of that confidence — and to quiet concerns among Democrats as well as Republicans — House leaders abandoned a plan to approve the Senate’s health care legislation without a direct vote.
President Barack Obama, in a politically charged visit to Capitol Hill, tried to rally support for the measure by telling the House’s 253 Democrats to ignore the gloom-and-doom midterm election scenarios that Republican leaders and pundits have suggested if they pass the health care measure.
“You’re here to represent your constituencies, and if you think your constituencies honestly shouldn’t be helped, you shouldn’t vote for this,” Obama said. “But if you agree the system’s not working for ordinary families . . . then help us fix this system.
“Don’t do it for me. Don’t do it for the Democratic Party,” Obama said. “Do it for the American people.”
Before Obama’s arrival on the Hill, House leaders worked feverishly to round up the last undecided votes to reach the 216 needed for passage.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was confident about today’s prospects, saying flatly, “We will pass the bill.”
The pace was furious and sometimes heated both inside and outside the Capitol, where thousands of Tea Party demonstrators gathered to protest the bill. Some demonstrators hurled racial and sexual insults at Democratic lawmakers.
“Deem and pass” rejected
Inside the building, House Democratic leaders dropped a controversial plan that would have “deemed” Senate-approved health care legislation passed as part of a resolution setting rules of debate but would not have required House members to vote directly on the legislation.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Democrats abandoned “deem and pass” because the party leadership is confident it can get the votes to pass the bill.
“We determined that we could do this, and it’s a better process,” Hoyer told reporters. “We believe we have the votes.”
The maneuver had been seen as a way to allow Democrats to avoid voting on the bill, but Democrats were uneasy about the prospect. Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., said it looked like a “back-door deal.”
“We’ve had sanity prevail here,” said Rep. Dennis Cordoza, D-Calif., a supporter of the legislation. “This is something that should be done in the light of day.”
The House will take two votes. One is on a package of amendments that would modify some provisions of the Senate legislation and expand its scope to satisfy demands from House Democrats. That bill would then go to the Senate for a vote under so-called reconciliation rules that prohibit a filibuster and would require only 51 votes for passage.
The other is a straight up-and-down vote on the Senate health care bill, which would then go to Obama to sign.
In a carefully orchestrated appeal to unity, Obama and House leaders were joined by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who brought a pledge from more than 50 of his Democratic colleagues to promptly finish the bill after the House votes. House Democrats have been wary of being left in the lurch by the famously unpredictable Senate.
What the legislation does
The legislation would require most employers and consumers to obtain coverage by 2014 or face penalties. Families earning up to $88,000 a year would be eligible for help paying premiums. Consumers would be able to use new exchanges, or marketplaces, to easily shop for coverage.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the plan would reduce the federal deficit by $138 billion over 10 years. It includes a series of tax increases, including higher Medicare payroll taxes on the wealthy and a new tax on dividend, interest and other unearned income.
Republicans, unanimous in their opposition, complained anew about the bill’s cost and reach. Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said a fuller analysis of the bill’s long-term costs is needed, but Democrats have left no time to carry it out.
The House considered its own version of a health care reform bill in November, and 219 Democrats and one Republican, Rep. Joseph Cao of Louisiana, backed the bill. Cao has said he is opposed this time, and at least two Democrats who voted “yes,” Reps. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., and Michael Arcuri, D-N.Y., are expected to switch to “no.”
Five Democrats who voted “no” say they will vote “yes,” but the margin for passage remains perilously thin.
House Democratic leaders Saturday urged skittish colleagues to consider the bill not only as a health care measure but also as legislation that would help create jobs, boost the economy, reduce deficits and help the Obama presidency thrive.
“The vote this week will demonstrate clearly which side Democrats are on in the United States Congress,” said House Democratic Caucus chairman John Larson of Connecticut.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
