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Barack Obama - Source: Reuters -
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A top Democrat in the US House of Representatives said on Sunday (NZT), "We have the votes" to pass President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul as Democrats dropped a much-criticised plan to approve the Senate's bill without a direct ballot.
An upbeat House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer predicted victory in Monday's vote on the biggest changes in the $US2.5 trillion US healthcare system in the past four decades.
"Clearly, we believe we have the votes," Hoyer told reporters before a visit by Obama to Capitol Hill to rally support among House Democrats.
At a rally where he recognised several House members who had declared support for the bill, Obama told House Democrats they faced a tough vote but they should be "willing to stand up even when it's hard, even when it's tough".
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid joined Obama before House Democrats and told them he had commitments from "a good majority" of the 100-member Senate to pass the changes to the healthcare bill the House will take up on Monday (NZT).
House Democratic leaders spent Sunday in a whirlwind of closed-door meetings and conversations on the House floor with wavering party members as they closed in on the 216 votes needed for final approval.
House Democratic leaders decided to take a vote on the Senate-passed overhaul, dropping a controversial strategy that would have permitted them to "deem" the bill passed without a separate vote.
Democratic leaders appeared to rule out a separate vote on adding more strict anti-abortion language to appease a handful of Democratic holdouts who are abortion rights opponents, another sign Democrats were growing confident.
"We have an agreement with the Senate - this is what we are passing in both houses," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said of the healthcare package.
Democrats picked up seven new converts in recent days who said they would switch their November votes to "yes" from "no". The House passed its version of the overhaul in November with three votes to spare.
House Republican leader John Boehner, an ardent foe of the legislation, appeared to acknowledge the looming defeat in the weekly Republican radio address.
"Can't beat this bill"
"Republicans can't beat this bill, but the American people can," Boehner said. "It's not too late to make your voice heard."
The political battle over healthcare reform has consumed Congress for more than nine months, putting a dent in Obama's approval ratings and worrying Democratic lawmakers who face re-election in November.
The overhaul, Obama's top domestic priority, would expand coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans and ban insurance practices like refusing coverage to those with pre-existing medical conditions.
It would require all Americans to have health insurance, but give subsidies to help lower-income workers pay for it and set up exchanges where individuals and groups could shop and compare insurance plans.
The House Rules Committee met on Sunday to set the debate rules and the process for passing the legislation on Monday. It is expected that if the Senate's version of the bill is approved by the House on Monday, it will become law once signed by Obama.
A package of revisions designed to win over wavering House Democrats would move in a separate bill the Senate would take up next week.
The House will take three votes on Monday, Democratic aides said - on the rule setting the process, the revisions to the Senate bill sought by House Democrats and on the Senate bill itself.
Democratic leaders had worked for days to heal a rift with a small group of abortion rights opponents led by Democratic Representative Bart Stupak. They threatened to oppose the healthcare bill unless the ban on using federal funds for abortion was strengthened.
A larger group of abortion rights supporters had fought back, and talks with Stupak appeared dead on Sunday.
"The leader has said she is not going to give separate votes on any of the issues, including that one," Representative Dianna DeGette, a leader of the abortion rights supporters, told reporters.
