WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama has picked up his first convert in the push for healthcare reform as Democrats in the House of Representatives prepare for a close weekend vote on final passage.
Representative Dennis Kucinich, one of the most left-wing members of Congress and an ardent supporter of a national system of healthcare, became the first House Democrat to switch from a No to a Yes on the package.
“This is a defining moment for whether or not we’ll have any opportunity to move off square one on healthcare,” Mr Kucinich said yesterday in announcing his switch two days after Mr Obama lobbied him on an Air Force One flight to his home state of Ohio.
Mr Kucinich, who voted against the reform bill for not going far enough when the House approved its version in November, said he realised the weekend vote on the Senate’s version of the bill would be very close.
“Even though I don’t like the bill, I’ve made a decision to support it in the hope that we can move to a more comprehensive approach once this legislation is done,” he told reporters.
Mr Kucinich is the first of 37 House Democrats who voted against the package in November to flip to the Yes column, but the president and Democratic leaders in the House are frantically searching for more as they try to round up the necessary 216 votes.
Mr Kucinich, a former presidential candidate known for his strong left-wing views, is unlikely to bring a lot of followers along with him as most of the Democratic opposition came from centrists.
House Democrats have been trying to finalise changes they want in the Bill, which has already been passed by the Senate, and hoped to publish them yesterday.
Under the procedure planned for passing the package, the House would vote this weekend on whether to approve the Senate’s version of the Bill. The changes sought by Mr Obama and House Democrats would move through a separate measure.
Republicans have criticised Democrats for considering using a process to avoid a direct vote on the Senate-passed bill. Instead, they would declare the Senate bill passed once the House votes to approve changes it wants.
The House changes would then be approved by the 100-member Senate under budget reconciliation rules that require only a simple majority, avoiding the need to overcome procedural hurdles introduced by the Republicans.
The health package would extend coverage to more than 30 million uninsured Americans and ban insurance industry practices like refusing coverage to those with pre-existing medical conditions.
Health insurance company shares were down yesterday while the broader market rose slightly.
As many as two dozen undeclared Democrats could decide the package’s fate and end a political struggle that has consumed the US Congress for months and put a dent in Mr Obama’s personal approval ratings.
Democratic leaders say they are confident they can find the 216 votes needed. The House passed its version of healthcare in November with only three votes to spare. A dispute over the wording used about abortion could cost Democrats up to a dozen supporters this time. – (Reuters)