House health-care reform bill could attract broad Democratic support

By Shailagh Murray and Ben Pershing
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, October 29, 2009

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) unveiled a health-care reform bill Thursday that includes a government insurance option, as well as a historic expansion of Medicaid, and seemed to have the potential to draw support from a broad range of Democratic lawmakers.

Democratic House aides said party leaders had yet to resolve long-standing disputes over provisions to block illegal immigrants from receiving benefits and to prevent federal funds from being used to subsidize abortions. But lawmakers also said there was a growing realization among Democrats from across the political spectrum that the time had arrived to compromise and move forward after weeks of internal battling.

"At the end of the day, we've got to pass something," said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.). "The whole debate, I hope, has been about more than just therapy."

The 1,990-page bill includes a version of the "public option" preferred by moderates and raises Medicaid eligibility levels to 150 percent of the federal poverty level for all adults, a steeper increase than in earlier drafts.

(More here.)