House Democrats pick up some moderate votes for health bill

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is picking up some centrist votes for the Democratic health care reform bill, though a leak of a list held by Majority Whip Rep. Jim Clyburn has led to difficulties counting votes on support for a more moderate public option.

The Hill reports that Pelosi still doesn't have 218 firm "yes" votes but that many once "no" votes are "leaning yes."

"Other than Rep. Earl Pomeroy's (D-N.D.) pronouncement in a closed-door caucus meeting, there have been few public conversions (on the bill). … That bill, called a 'manager's amendment,' could be released Tuesday, setting the stage for a vote that could occur as early as Friday. But it could also spill into the weekend and next week." The Hill includes a list of Congressmen and Congresswomen that are leaning one way or another (Soraghan, 11/2).

Politico reports that a leak of a list of pro-public option votes has led to a murky vote count as members are holding their cards closer to their chests. "Moderates accuse party liberals of leaking the list — and Democratic aides say that some of those moderates are retaliating by refusing to tell leaders how they plan to vote on the more moderate version of the bill that was introduced last week. … The leak of an official whip list is very rare on Capitol Hill because few lawmakers like to telegraph what they would do on legislation that may not see the light of day, particularly those who may have to answer for such hypothetical votes on the campaign trail" (Allen, 11/3).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.