By James Rowley and Laura Litvan March 12 (Bloomberg) — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled her determination to seek passage next week of legislation overhauling the health-care system after President Barack Obama put off the start of his Asia trip until March 21. The president’s new itinerary will enable him to talk with any wavering Democratic lawmakers and help Pelosi forge a majority in the House to pass a Senate-approved bill along with a package of changes to remove provisions that are objectionable to some members of her caucus. By staying in Washington, Obama “believes he can make a very strong case why this is important,” spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters at the White House after Obama postponed by three days the scheduled March 18 start of the trip. Pelosi, speaking to reporters at her weekly news conference, said she’s “delighted the president will be here for the passage of the bill.” White House officials consulted with House leaders about the prospect of passing the legislation next week before the president delayed his departure, said a Democratic official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The legislation, which may cost about $1 trillion over 10 years, will extend health coverage to 31 million uninsured Americans by requiring people to purchase policies and providing subsidies to help low-income people buy them. CBO Weighs In Once the Congressional Budget Office completes a cost analysis, the House Budget Committee will begin drafting the legislation that contains changes to the Senate measure, which was passed late last year. Pelosi, of California, said she hoped those cost estimates would be completed in time for the budget panel to begin work early next week. The House would then put the measure “on the Internet and then take a vote,” she said. The committee scheduled a March 15 session to consider the changes, which would be packaged in a budget-reconciliation measure, allowing for a simple majority vote in both chambers. Under reconciliation, the House will be required to pass the Senate legislation and the companion measure containing the changes before the Senate acts. That will require House members to overcome their distrust of the Senate, which has failed to act on almost 300 House- passed bills, according to Senator Dick Durbin , of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat. Reassuring Lawmakers To help House members overcome their fears of Senate inaction, Obama will talk to senators “to be sure they are supportive of those legislative fixes,” spokesman Gibbs said. Pelosi dismissed speculation that a decision by the Senate parliamentarian that Obama must sign the Senate legislation into law before Congress can amend it makes it harder to persuade House Democrats to pass the Senate measure. “It isn’t going to make any difference, except maybe the mood that people are in,” she said. She blamed the backlog of House-passed legislation in the Senate on “obstructionism” by Senate Republicans, who require 60-vote supermajorities on major legislation. With simple majorities needed in both chambers to pass the budget-reconciliation bill, House Democrats “are much more comfortable” approving the Senate measure, she said. Still, “there are certain assurances that they want” that the Senate will approve the changes “and we will get them before I ask them to take the vote,” Pelosi said. Twisting ‘Into Pretzels’ Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told reporters that Democrats are “twisting themselves into pretzels” to try to pass legislation that voters don’t want . “What we have here is Democrats versus their own constituents,” he said on a conference call. House leaders said they were ready to proceed to a vote without addressing concerns by some Democratic lawmakers that restrictions on federal financing of abortions in the Senate measure aren’t stringent enough. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said “it is clear that matter can’t be dealt with” in the reconciliation legislation, which must be limited to budget and spending items. Hoyer, of Maryland, said he was no longer trying to negotiate a concession with Michigan Democrat Bart Stupak , a leader of a group of anti- abortion Democrats. In an interview taped for Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt ” Hoyer challenged the claim Stupak has made that without tighter abortion language, 12 Democrats who voted to pass the House measure in November would oppose it now. Picking Up Votes “I don’t think we’ll lose a dozen votes,” he said. “We may lose some, but I think we’re going to pick up some.” Stupak spokeswoman Michelle Begnoche said she wouldn’t respond to Hoyer’s comment, saying only that Stupak “has not changed his position that he will not vote for the Senate bill on the promises that it will be fixed afterward.” The health legislation would require insurers such as Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. to cover people with pre- existing medical conditions. It would set up insurance exchanges on which eligible consumers could shop for the lowest-priced policies. Opponents, including WellPoint Chief Financial Officer Wayne DeVeydt , say the measure doesn’t do anything to control costs and contains insufficient penalties for people who don’t buy coverage. The bill will price healthy people out of the insurance market, he said March 10 at an investor conference. The reconciliation package will also include legislation to expand a government direct student-loan program and end federal guarantees and subsidies to such lenders as SLM Corp., commonly known as Sallie Mae. House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller of California said that’s “critical” to getting support for the health-care changes. “People have made it very clear they want to take this home.” SLM dropped 3.4 percent, or 43 cents, to $12.11 in composite New York Stock Exchange trading as of 3:33 p.m. To contact the reporters on this story: James Rowley in Washington at jarowley@bloomberg.net ; Laura Litvan at llitvan@bloomberg.net
See the article here:
Pelosi Signals Aim to Pass Health-Overhaul Bill Before Obama’s Asia Trip
