House passes health care bill on 219-212

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House passes health care bill on 219-212

voteMarch 21, 2010 10:57 p.m. EDT
The House debates health care reform legislation on Sunday afternoon.STORY HIGHLIGHTS NEW: $875 billion health care reform bill heads to president's desk to be signed into law NEW: Bill passed 219-212, with all Republicans and some Democrats voting against Abortion foe Rep. Bart Stupak reached deal with White House Watch gavel-to-gavel coverage of House action on health care bill at live.cnn.com Follow the very latest on the health care vote and find out what it means for you, tonight on CNN. Watch a special live prime-time event at 8 p.m. ET on CNN, with the best political team on television. Washington (CNN) -- The House of Representatives has passed a sweeping $875 billion health care reform bill. The measure, which cleared the Senate in December, will now head to President Obama's desk to be signed into law. The bill passed in a 219-212 vote. All 178 Republicans opposed it, along with 34 Democrats. The House still is expected to vote on compromise changes to the Senate bill, which, should the changes pass the House, still would need Senate approval. However, Obama's signature on the main Senate health care bill would make the reform the law of the land, with or without the changes in the accompanying bill. A last-minute deal Sunday between Obama and House members who oppose abortion appeared to clear the way for Congress to pass the bill. Just a few hours before the vote, Obama announced he would issue an executive order to ensure that existing limits on federal funding of abortion remain in place under the health care reform bill. Minutes later, Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Michigan, and fellow anti-abortion colleagues said they would support the legislation. iReport: Share your views on health care reform Obama is not planning to sign the bill on Sunday night, a senior administration official told CNN. But he does intend to address the nation from the White House, the official said. The measure would constitute the biggest expansion of federal health care guarantees since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid over four decades ago. It would extend insurance coverage to an additional 32 million Americans, according to a preliminary analysis from the budget office. Republicans contend the plan amounts to a government takeover of the private insurance system that will do little to slow spiraling medical costs. Obama addressed those concerns Saturday, insisting there is "no government takeover." "We are making sure that the system of private insurance works for ordinary families," he said, calling the legislation a "patient's bill of rights on steroids" and "the toughest insurance reform in history." Republicans also argue it would lead to higher premiums and taxes for middle-class families while resulting in deep Medicare cuts. Among other things, the plan would expand Medicare prescription drug coverage, increase federal subsidies to help people buy insurance, and ban denials of coverage for pre-existing conditions. It seeks to bridge the gap between previous House and Senate bills partly by watering down and delaying the implementation of a tax on high-end insurance plans. With Republicans in unanimous opposition, Obama and senior Democrats had mounted a nonstop campaign to win the necessary 216 Democratic votes for the bills to pass. Obama has repeatedly ripped into private health insurers in recent weeks, framing the debate as a fight between big corporations and ordinary Americans struggling to deal with skyrocketing premiums. Over the course of the last week, Obama conducted more than 90 calls and meetings on health care, according to a senior aide. Former President Clinton made several phone calls Saturday to lobby wavering Democrats, party sources told CNN, and Obama made a rare visit to the House to rally the Democratic caucus to support the plan. "Let's get this done," Obama said at the meeting, also attended by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada. "If you agree that the system is not working for ordinary families, if you've heard the same stories that I've heard everywhere, all across the country, then help us fix the system," Obama said. Obama's speech came just hours after Democratic leaders decided to abandon a controversial legislative mechanism that could have avoided a direct vote on the health care legislation. They will now hold an up-or-down vote on the $875 billion reform plan that the Senate has already passed. Multiple Democratic sources told CNN that Democratic leaders decided to drop the tactic, known as "deem and pass." The proposed tactic had come under fierce criticism. A major sticking point had been abortion language, with some House Democrats initially rejecting the Senate bill because they said it would allow federal funding for abortions beyond the current limits of cases of rape, incest or situations in which a woman's life is in danger. Obama's executive order would be issued after the health care reform bill is passed, the president said in a statement. "While the legislation as written maintains current law, the executive order provides additional safeguards to ensure that the status quo is upheld and enforced, and that the health care legislation's restrictions against the public funding of abortions cannot be circumvented," Obama's statement said. On Thursday, the Congressional Budget Office issued its initial estimate that the changes in the accompanying House bill -- while raising the overall cost of the bill to $940 billion -- would reduce the budget deficit by more than $130 billion over 10 years. The final CBO estimate put the deficit reduction over 10 years at $143 billion -- $25 billion more than the bill passed by the Senate. The budget office numbers reassured some fiscally conservative Democrats, according to congressional leaders. Republicans are fuming over the Democrats' decision to use a legislative maneuver called reconciliation, which will allow the accompanying compromise measures -- if passed by the House -- to clear the Senate with a simple majority of 51 votes. Senate Democrats lost their filibuster-proof 60-seat super-majority in January with the election of Republican Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts. Republicans contend that reconciliation, which is limited to provisions pertaining to the budget, was never meant to facilitate passage of a sweeping reform measure such as the health care bill. Democrats point out that reconciliation was used to pass several major bills in recent years, including former President George W. Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. House Democrats have expressed concern that the compromise measures will not be approved by the more conservative Senate. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday, however, that "when our members go to vote, they will have all the assurances they need" that the Senate will approve the compromise plan.