By Laura Litvan and Kristin Jensen March 18 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama scored a victory in his bid to overhaul the health-care system when a Democratic lawmaker agreed to switch his vote and back the legislation, even as the bill faced delays in Congress. Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich told reporters yesterday that a visit Obama made to his Cleveland-area district March 15 “underscored the urgency of this moment.” “I have to make a decision, not on the bill as I would like to see it, but as it is,” Kucinich said. As the vote count improved for Democrats, the timetable got worse. House leaders had expected to release legislative language and a cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office as early as last week, and both were delayed again yesterday, as leaders strive to meet deficit -cutting targets. Lawmakers say they want to put the language up on the Internet and give Americans 72 hours to read it before voting on the bill, which all Republicans oppose. That would mean a vote could come no earlier than March 21, possibly after Obama’s scheduled departure that day for an Asia trip. Democrats face “a very technical problem, much more technical than substantive” in meeting the requirements of a budget process called reconciliation, said Representative Rob Andrews of New Jersey. He said the process has been further complicated by the addition of a student-loan provision. Waiting for CBO House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on March 16 that she expected to be able to count votes better once she had the CBO cost estimate and legislative language. Kucinich’s support is influencing others, Andrews said, citing “a sea change where people are trying to find a way to vote yes and explain their vote.” Obama has also been working on Washington Representative Brian Baird , meeting with him for 30 minutes in the Oval Office on March 16. Baird like Kucinich complained that the House and Senate bills aren’t ambitious enough. He said he would replace the Medicare and Medicaid programs for the elderly and the poor with vouchers to purchase care. “We had a long discussion about the pros and cons of the legislation, what the alternatives are,” Baird said of the meeting. He said Republican “hypocrisy” and “extremism” during the debate would figure into whether he switches his previous “no” vote. “Part of my calculus as well is the manner in which these people have conducted themselves,” Baird said. Reconciliation Route The House plans to approve a 10-year, $875 billion bill passed by the Senate and clear a set of changes to that measure through the budget-reconciliation process. The changes are needed because House Democrats object to parts of the Senate bill. The Senate would then pass the reconciliation bill. Undecided Democrats are raising concerns on everything from the treatment of illegal immigrants to Medicare payments in the Senate bill. The House bill passed 220-215 in November. Since then, Democrats lost four “yes” votes because of vacancies and a switch by the only Republican who supported the bill. Another group of Democrats led by Michigan Representative Bart Stupak also threatened to defect over restrictions on abortion funding that they say aren’t strong enough. All told, 37 sitting Democrats voted “no” on the original House measure. Another 40 supported the bill while also voting “yes” on abortion language put forth by Stupak at the time, suggesting their votes might waver. ‘Leaning’ in Favor One of those lawmakers, Minnesota Representative James Oberstar , said he’s “leaning” toward voting “yes,” though ‘there are a couple of items to be worked out.” Others, including Ohio Democrat Marcy Kaptur , aren’t so sure. Abortion is “one of the factors” in determining her vote, Kaptur said on March 16. She said she wants to preserve existing law that bans federal dollars from being used for abortions and she is “not convinced” the new bill does that. She has said she’s also worried about insurance costs. “What’s going to happen to somebody who owns a deli back where I live?” Kaptur said. “Are they going to be able to get an affordable plan or will their employees be able to afford a plan?” Democrats seek the biggest health-care changes in four decades. Americans would be required to get insurance, with subsidies and purchasing exchanges to help. Insurers such as UnitedHealth Group Inc. would get millions of new policyholders and be required to accept all customers. ‘Decision Time’ Shares of Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth fell 0.9 percent yesterday as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Managed Health Care Index dropped 0.4 percent. Representative Luis Gutierrez , an Illinois Democrat and a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said he objects to the failure of the Senate legislation to cover immigrants. He said he’s undecided on the measure, yet values his conversations with the White House on policies such as housing that affect undocumented immigrants. “We have a lot of self-interest in Barack Obama being successful,” he said. Representative Ron Kind , a Wisconsin Democrat, said he’s waiting to see whether Democratic leaders compromised adequately on language establishing an independent commission to establish Medicare reimbursement rates to caregivers. “It’s getting down to decision time now,” he said. To contact the reporters on this story: Laura Litvan in Washington at llitvan@bloomberg.net ; Kristin Jensen in Washington at kjensen@bloomberg.net
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Obama Wins Health-Plan Victory With Kucinich Vote, Faces Delay in Congress
