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.
Two key votes pointed to its passage: one, 242-192, authorized the bill to be debated, a key test of Democratic strength, and a second one that banned government-subsidized health insurance from covering elective abortions.
That vote was 240-194, with most Democrats opposing what opponents of the abortion limits called the greatest restriction on health care imposed on women in a generation. Republicans, however, overwhelmingly backed the amendment.
Passage of the amendment, however, was considered critical to win the support of anti-abortion Democrats for passage of the final health-care proposal, which needs 218 votes.
As the debate began, Obama visited Capitol Hill to meet 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.
On the House floor, Democratic leaders appealed to members' sense of history, reminding them this is one of the most significant votes, short of war, they are likely to take.
"There are few moments when we have the opportunity to do so much good with one vote. This is one of those moments," said Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.
Republicans countered with arguments that the health care plan did little to improve coverage or affordability.
"Astoundingly, Democrats are bringing to the floor a bill today that will not reduce the costs of health insurance. It will grow the size of government," said GOP Conference Chairman Mike Pence, R-Ind.
Democratic leaders scheduled a final vote on the bill late Saturday night, and were confident they had enough for passage after a last-minute abortion deal.
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 the 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, and highly partisan, 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.
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