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MARCH 18, 2010, 4:25 P.M. ET

UPDATE: US House Democrats Scramble For Votes On Health Bill

By Patrick Yoest and Corey Boles
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--House Democratic leaders on Thursday intensified their search for the needed votes to pass health-care legislation, with one previous supporter of their efforts announcing his possible defection shortly after the legislation was unveiled.

The legislation, which will combine a Senate-passed health-care overhaul with a package of changes to the Senate bill, was estimated by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to cost $940 billion over a decade and expand insurance coverage to 32 million Americans. Now, House Democratic leaders must find 216 votes for it within their own ranks.

Already, they face the prospect of one unexpected "no" vote: Rep. Stephen Lynch (D., Mass.). Lynch, a former labor leader who generally votes with his party, said Thursday that he planned to vote against the legislation but was set to meet with President Barack Obama later in the afternoon.

Lynch voted for a House-passed version of the legislation, but he said the most recent iteration of it does too little to draw down health-care costs.

"We're paying the ransom, but the insurance companies at the end of the day still hold the hostages," Lynch said. "It's not systemic reform, in all honesty."

Supporters of the bill appear to be appealing to undecided lawmakers with the message that their electoral fate depends on a victory in the Sunday vote.

"Members who think they have a tough race are not going to find security in voting no," said House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman, (D., Calif.). "If this bill doesn't pass, they are going to be wiped out. There's going to be such a loss of Democrats in the next election, if for no other reason than our base won't come out to vote."

Hispanic Democrats have expressed concerns about the bill's restrictions barring illegal immigrants and some legal residents from receiving benefits to purchase insurance. But in a positive sign for Democrats, leaders of the 23-member Congressional Hispanic Caucus said Thursday the group's members would vote for the health care bill.

Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D., N.Y.) said that one out of every three Hispanic Americans has no health insurance and that the bill would lead to 8.8 million Latinos getting insurance. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D., Ill.) said he had sought and received assurances from the White House that Obama is committed to moving forward with an overhaul of the country's immigration laws quickly.

Bringing antiabortion Democrats into the fold could prove tougher. Most of them favored legislation passed in the House last November with tough restrictions barring federal funding of abortion.

A group of lawmakers led by Rep. Bart Stupak (D., Mich.) has said that the current version of the legislation--which remains unchanged from the Senate-passed bill--would not go far enough to keep federal dollars from paying for abortions. But some antiabortion Democrats, such as Reps. Dale Kildee (D., Mich.) and James Oberstar (D., Minn.), have relented from harder stances on the issue and said that the Senate language would do enough to address their concerns.

On Thursday, Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D., Ind.), an antiabortion Democrat who is running for the U.S. Senate, said that he remains undecided on whether to vote for the bill.

"You can have lawyers on both sides of an issue argue the exact same set of facts two totally opposite ways," Ellsworth said. "That goes on here, too."

-By Patrick Yoest, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-3554; patrick.yoest@dowjones.com

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