House Democratic leaders continued efforts to pick-up support for health reform in the House while also tinkering around the edges of the overhaul legislative package -- all in anticipation of a Sunday vote in the House.
The New York Times: Democratic leaders worked "to secure backing for the legislation from among roughly three dozen members of the party whose votes are considered to be in play" and gained a couple votes Wednesday. "Democratic leaders say they have not nailed down the 216 votes they need for passage, but they are pressing ahead in the belief that they can get them." Meanwhile, Republicans are plotting ways to hold up the legislation, including challenging the labor agreement on high-cost plans. "Republican senators said they believed they could successfully challenge the inclusion of that agreement in the final health care package, on the ground that it would violate the rules for budget reconciliation" (Herszenhorn and Pear, 3/17).