With a personal push from President Barack Obama, the House of Representatives Saturday inched closer to passing historic health care legislation that would guarantee virtually all Americans access to care.
Obama met for half an hour with House Democrats as the all-day debate was starting Saturday morning, and compared the health care effort to Democrats' championing of Social Security and Medicare.
"Now is the time to finish the job," Obama said later in brief remarks in the White House Rose Garden.
Democratic leaders were hoping for a final vote on the bill Saturday night, after a last-minute deal with abortion opponents would make it clear federal funds could not be used to pay for elective abortions.
The House bill would make the biggest changes in the nation's health care system since Medicare was created 44 years ago to provide coverage for seniors and the disabled.
Passage of the bill by the House would be the first crucial step to overhauling health care; the Senate hopes to act by the end of the year, and the two Houses would then craft a compromise that would need approval of each chamber.
The House measure would create a government-run health-care plan to compete with the private sector, bar insurers from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions and set up health care "exchanges," or marketplaces where consumers could easily shop for coverage.
The changes are expected to mean that by 2019, 96 percent of eligible Americans would have health insurance, up from the current 83 percent.
Obama took no questions from lawmakers, but his presence was a vivid reminder that the president has put health-care overhaul at the top of his domestic agenda - a change that has eluded presidents for nearly a century.
"He came here to say, 'This is what we said we would do in the campaign. Let's do it,' " said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.
Democratic leaders said that they doubted many votes would change as a result of the Obama appearance; but that "the energy he brought to this debate will be helpful," said Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C.
A bigger boost may have come from the abortion deal.
As originally written, the measure would have required insurers to separate public and private money, so that only private funds could be used for elective abortions. Abortion opponents were concerned that such a policy would effectively expand the government's role in improving access to abortion, and as many as 40 Democrats threatened to withhold support from the health-care bill unless changes were made.
After tense negotiations Friday night - with White House officials and representatives of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops as well as key Democratic members of Congress - House Democratic leaders agreed to allow a vote Saturday on sweeping changes to the abortion provision.
The change would permit abortion coverage for people receiving federal aid for their insurance only in the case of rape or incest or where the mother's life is endangered. That change is consistent with a 1970s-era federal law governing public funding of abortion.
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