House Dems on track for vote on $940B health bill

clipped from news.yahoo.com WASHINGTON – House Democrats are pushing to the brink of passage a landmark, $940 billion health care overhaul bill that would simultaneously deliver on President Barack Obama's promise to expand coverage while slashing the deficit, a strategy aimed at winning over the party's fiscal conservatives. Leaving nothing to chance, the White House announced that Obama has put off his planned trip to Asia for a second time, delaying it until June. Obama was to have left Sunday — when the House is planning to vote. Said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: "He wants to be here for the history." The 10-year plan would provide coverage to 32 million people now uninsured through a combination of tax credits for middle class households and an expansion of the Medicaid program for low income people. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops opposes the Senate-passed legislation, contending it would permit the use of federal funds for elective abortions.

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