Hoyer says House health vote could be delayed

"House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said 'delay tactics' could prevent the vote from occurring at the 6 p.m. Saturday scheduled time," and "suggested the debate could go into Sunday or next week," The Hill reports. "But he also acknowledged that leaders do not yet have the 218 votes they need among House Democrats to pass the bill." The Hill reports that "House leaders are expected to incorporate any compromise on abortion into the bill Friday in the Rules Committee. Republicans have said that doing so violates the pledge by Hoyer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to have the complete text of the bill available to the public for three full days prior to consideration of the bill" (Soraghan and Allen, 11/6).

USA Today: "'Unless there are delaying tactics,' Hoyer said on the call, organized by Families USA, 'I think we can finish debate by tomorrow night.' But, he added, the House would consider the bill 'to (its) conclusion' and added that "Monday and Tuesday is a possibility" (Fritze, 11/6).

The Boston Globe: "House leaders are trying to rush the bill -- one of the largest and most complex pieces of legislation considered in recent years -- through the lower chamber quickly. They fear that with every passing hour, more issues could arise and create obstacles to passage. Hoyer said discussions are ongoing over two side issues, abortion and immigration. … If the House and Senate both pass legislation, Hoyer said -- rather ominously -- that he expects a 'relatively lengthy and difficult conference' given the major differences between the House and Senate and the complexity of the bill" (Wangsness, 11/6).

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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.