This is it!
We’re coming down to the wire on the House’s vote on health care, and it’s still not totally clear how the Blue Dogs will vote. Right now, Rep. Nancy Pelosi is trying to sure up every vote she can in anticipation of a weekend vote on the bill. Waiting any longer, the thinking goes, will only give the Blue Dogs and other Democrats on the fence more time to decide they don’t support the legislation.
Right now, the hot issue is whether the bill will lead to government-funded abortions. Currently, the legislation would allow plans offered through new insurance exchanges to cover abortion services as long as firewalls prevented federal subsidies from covering the cost. A compromise measure by Blue Dog Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-Ind.) would “require federal health officials operating the public insurance plan created in the House bill to hire a private contractor to pay abortion providers.” This has so far not satisfied Democrats who oppose abortion.
The other big problem is the question of covering immigrants. Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.) told The Washington Post that in order to support the bill, he needed to be able to reassure his constituents that people “who are here illegally cannot avail themselves of the infrastructure that we’re creating.” Leaders may tighten the language on illegal immigrants so that it’s as tight as the Senate language.