WASHINGTON - Their work swiftly heralded by President Barack Obama, House Democrats rolled out landmark legislation Thursday to extend health care to tens of millions who lack coverage, impose sweeping new restrictions on private insurers and create a government-run insurance option for cost-conscious consumers.
The measure "covers 96 percent of all Americans, and it puts affordable coverage in reach for millions of uninsured and underinsured families, lowering health care costs for all of us," boasted Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., at a ceremony attended by dozens of Democratic lawmakers. She spoke on the steps of the Capitol, not far from where Obama issued his inaugural summons for Congress to act more than nine months ago.
Despite the fanfare, Democrats did not immediately release a detailed estimate of the legislation's cost. Instead, they said the Congressional Budget Office had put the cost related to coverage at $894 billion over a decade, and they made no mention of other items in the measure.
The full House is expected to vote on the bill late next week, and Democratic leaders were careful not to claim they had yet rounded up enough votes to pass it. Still, the day's events capped months of struggle and marked a major advance in their drive - and Obama's - to accomplish an overhaul of the health care system that has eluded presidents for a half-century.
Across the Capitol, the Democratic-controlled Senate is expected to begin debate within two weeks on a bill crafted by Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. It, too, envisions a government-run insurance option, although states could opt out, unlike in the bill the House will vote on. That portion of the Senate version appears likely to be weakened even further, as moderates press for a standby system that would not go into effect until it was clear individual states were experiencing a lack of competition among private companies.
Obama called the House legislation "another critical milestone in the effort to reform our health care system." The president added he was pleased with the decision to allow the government to sell insurance in competition with private industry, and said the measure meets his goals for deficit neutrality.
Republican reaction was as swift as it was negative. "It will raise the cost of Americans' health insurance premiums; it will kill jobs with tax hikes and new mandates, and it will cut seniors' Medicare benefits," said the party's leader in the House, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio. He carried a copy of the 1,990-page measure into a news conference to underscore his claim it represented a government takeover of the health care system.
Republicans have already signaled their determination to make the health care debate a key issue in next year's congressional elections, when all 435 House seats will be on the ballot.
But their ability to block passage in the current House is nonexistent as long as Pelosi and her leadership can forge a consensus among the Democratic rank and file. The party holds 256 seats in the House, where 218 makes a majority.
