Democratic leaders in the US House of Representatives pushed undecided members for support and voiced growing confidence today they will win a close vote on final passage of a sweeping healthcare overhaul.
The House will vote on Sunday afternoon on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority, which has picked up momentum in recent days with backing from former opponents and a good report card from congressional budget analysts.
"I feel very sure that we will vote sometime after 2pm on Sunday and the bill will pass," Democratic Representative James Clyburn, the top House vote-counter, told reporters.
Top House Democrats pushed hard to nail down the last of the 216 votes needed to approve the overhaul, which would constitute the biggest changes in the $2.5 trillion US healthcare system in the past four decades.
They picked up another convert when Representative John Boccieri, a first-term House member from a Republican-leaning district in Ohio, said he would switch from his "no" vote last November to "yes." He is the fourth House Democrat to do so in three days.
"I'm very excited about the momentum that is developing around the bill," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters. "When we bring the bill to the floor, we will have a significant victory for the American people."
Mr Clyburn said he and his lieutenants were trying to educate about two dozen publicly undecided Democrats on the benefits of the overhaul. He said they picked up a valuable tool when budget analysts gave the bill a good grade.
The non-partisan Congressional budget office estimated the bill would reduce the deficit by $138 billion over 10 years and expand insurance coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans.
"That was just great news for us," Mr Clyburn said, adding he began to seek hard commitments from lawmakers on Thursday night and was trying to "get everybody to a comfortable place."
"There are five or six people who have concerns over here, six or 12 who have concerns over there - there is no one thing," Mr Clyburn said.
A business lobbyist pushing against the deal and tracking the votes said on condition of anonymity: "Our count is that they are still four short. But they are going to get there."
Mr Obama and Ms Pelosi have been joining in the lobbying effort. The White House said Mr Obama has talked to more than three dozen politicians since Monday and Ms Pelosi has been talking to undecided Democrats.
"She's a predator out there looking" for undecideds, said Democratic Representative Steve Cohen, a supporter of the overhaul. "She's a drone. If she finds one, she's going to drop right on them." Mr Obama continued his effort to win public support for the overhaul, traveling to Washington's northern Virginia suburbs to tout the plan.
"We have waited long enough, and in just a few days a century-long struggle will culminate in a historic vote," Mr Obama told a crowd at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
The overhaul would ban insurance practices like refusing coverage to those with pre-existing medical conditions. It would require all Americans to have health insurance, but would give subsidies to help low- and middle-income workers pay for it.
The House tomorrow is due to set the rules for the debate and the process to pass it. It is expected that if the Senate's version of the bill is approved by the House on Sunday, it would become law once it is signed by Mr Obama.
A package of revisions designed to win over wavering House Democrats would move in a separate bill that the Senate would take up next week.
House Democrats have voiced skepticism about whether they can trust the Senate to pass the changes, but Ms Pelosi said they should not worry.
"When our members go to vote, they will have all the assurance they need that this bill will be taken up by the Senate and passed by the Senate," she said.
Reuters