By Nicole Gaouette and Kristin Jensen March 19 (Bloomberg) — U.S. House Democrats, who cleared a big hurdle in their effort to overhaul the health-care system by producing compromise legislation, are picking up fresh support for a showdown vote this weekend. Democrats need about six more votes from House members to pass the 10-year, $940 billion bill, Obama administration officials said today. President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders aim to sway some in a pool of 14 or 15 undecided lawmakers to get to the 216 votes needed to pass the measure, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “We are going to have the votes when the roll is called,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters today. A vote is scheduled for March 21, leaders said. Obama plans to meet with House Democrats at the White House tomorrow. He has met or called about three-dozen lawmakers in the last five days and cleared his schedule today for more last- minute appeals, including a rally in Fairfax, Virginia. “You’ve got to help us finish this fight,” Obama told the crowd. “You’ve got to stand with me just like you did three years ago and make some phone calls and knock on some doors, talk to your parents, talk to your friends. Do not quit.” Four Switch At least four Democrats agreed to switch their votes to back the bill this week. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may need more to make up for defections by Democrats concerned about issues ranging from the cost to whether restrictions on abortion funding are strong enough. Democrats say the legislation will cover 32 million uninsured Americans and curb medical costs . The Congressional Budget Office yesterday said it would also reduce the federal deficit by $138 billion in the first 10 years and further reduce the shortfall afterward. “This changed a few votes in the last few days,” said Representative Bill Pascrell , a New Jersey Democrat who plans to vote for the bill in part because it cuts the deficit. The Senate, which passed its own version of the legislation in December, will take up the revised measure next week. House members objected to key provisions of the Senate bill, and Democratic leaders unveiled a compromise measure yesterday to settle the differences. Biggest Changes Democrats are seeking the biggest changes to the health system since the creation of the Medicare program for the elderly in 1965. Insurers such as Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. would get millions of new policyholders, while being required to accept all customers. Republicans are universally opposed and have vowed to block the plan. They say it costs too much and uses budgeting gimmicks because much of the expansion of insurance coverage comes later in the life of the bill. “They can tweak this thing and tweak it,” House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio told reporters. “Still, it’s a trillion dollars they are going to spend.” Business groups have mounted a lobbying campaign against the legislation, and Caterpillar Inc. sent a letter to Pelosi and Boehner saying the bills would raise its costs by $100 million in the first year alone. “We can ill afford cost increases that place us at a disadvantage versus global competitors,” wrote Gregory S. Folley, vice president and chief human resources officer at Peoria, Illinois-based Caterpillar, in the March 18 letter. Lobbying Lawmakers Obama says the U.S. can’t afford not to overhaul the health-care system, and postponed a trip to Indonesia and Australia to lobby lawmakers. Ohio Representative John Boccieri today told reporters he will support the new legislation after voting against a version when it passed the House in November. That followed similar announcements from Democrats Bart Gordon of Tennessee, Betsy Markey of Colorado and Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. The Democrats have lost votes too. New York Representative Michael Arcuri , who voted in favor of the original House bill, said he’s now a “no.” He said the bill doesn’t do enough to control costs in a statement . Representative Dan Lipinski , an Illinois Democrat, said he also is switching his vote to “no,” citing concerns about abortion. That followed the likely loss of Michigan Democrat Bart Stupak , who has said he can’t support the new legislation without changes on abortion. Geographic Disparities And a group of lawmakers are protesting the deletion of a provision designed to ease geographic disparities in Medicare payments. Oregon Representative Peter DeFazio , a “yes” vote in November, said he would be a “no” this time unless the provision, affecting 17 states, is reinstated. “There are a number of people who may be miscounted at this time,” DeFazio said of the “yes” vote count. The original 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. All told, 37 sitting Democrats voted “no” on the original bill. Another 40 supported the measure while voting “yes” on language calling for stricter controls on abortion funding put forth by Stupak. Some of their votes, like Lipinski’s, might change. House and Senate lawmakers designed the bill that will make changes to the Senate legislation under a process called reconciliation. It will allow the Senate to pass the revised bill with a simple majority after the House passes the original Senate measure and the changes. To contact the reporters on this story: Kristin Jensen in Washington at kjensen@bloomberg.net ; Nicole Gaouette in Washington at ngaouette@bloomberg.net
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Democrats Pick Up Health-Care Supporters as House Moves Near Critical Vote
