CQ Politics
House Democratic leaders on Thursday introduced their long-awaited health care overhaul package, as rank-and-file party members appeared to be rallying behind the proposal.
The nearly 2,000-page legislation aims to extend health coverage to 96 percent of all Americans once it is fully implemented.
It contains a public insurance option that would have the government negotiate rates with health care providers, along with a mandate that individuals obtain coverage and that businesses offer it. It would be financed in part by a surtax on the wealthiest Americans.
Early indications were that Democrats across the ideological spectrum were lining up behind the main health care measure, which was assembled by Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., and her team.
Republicans, as expected, uniformly denounced the legislation. Not a single GOP member is expected to vote for it.
Earl Pomeroy , D-N.D., a centrist who had been wary of any public option that would link health care provider payments to Medicare rates, said he will support the current bill and predicted it will pass the House.
Liberals who had wanted the “robust” public plan opposed by Pomeroy and his allies also appeared ready to fall in line. President Obama invited dozens of them to the White House this afternoon to urge them to support the bill.
“Our people in this country need health care reform,” said Mary Jo Kilroy , D-Ohio. “I prefer the plan that costs less and covers more people, but we need to get a bill done.”
The final bill is estimated to cost about $894 billion over 10 years, meeting Obama’s demand for a price tag or no more than $900 billion.
The legislation would be paid for largely by a surtax on the adjusted gross income of individuals making more than $500,000 and married couples making more than $1 million. The bill contains new revenue-raisers that would impose tax-compliance requirements on businesses and create a 2.5 percent excise tax on certain medical devices.
The legislation is likely to be on the House floor late next week.
