Pelosi: A 'climactic health care vote' as early as next week

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled Friday that votes on a health care overhaul could come by the end of next week.

Politico: During a Friday meeting with Democratic members, Pelosi told lawmakers to "clear their schedules for next weekend." She also promised "to stay in session until the landmark vote, people present said afterwards." Speculation continues that Pelosi doesn't yet have the votes lined up to pass a reform bill, but that she's close. "In addition, it looks like House Democrats won't have to vote directly on a Senate bill they really don't like. The speaker hasn't made a final decision, but she told her rank-and-file during the meeting that the plan now is to craft the legislation in such a way that it would 'deem' the Senate bill passed once the House approves the package of fixes." That means members would only vote on the reconciliation bill that needs only 51 votes to pass in the Senate. Additionally, the president postponed a scheduled overseas trip -- now set for March 21, "and Pelosi said 'I am delighted the president will be here for the passage of the bill. It is going to be historic'" (O'Connor, 3/12).

The New York Times: "At a news conference at the Capitol, Ms. Pelosi said that Democrats were nearly ready to move forward but were still waiting for cost analysis from the Congressional Budget Office. … Pressed on the timing, Ms. Pelosi said would not commit to March 21 as a firm deadline. 'I said we'll take the time that we need to pass the legislation.' Still, she acknowledged her hope that the bill would be approved before Mr. Obama leaves the country. 'I'm hoping it will be in that time frame,' she said." Pelosi also said an expansion of student loan programs would be included in the reconciliation bill (Herszenhorn, 3/12).

The Washington Post: "'It won't be very long and we'll be making a real difference in the life of the American people,' she said, declaring herself 'very exhilarated' by the tone in the Democratic caucus Friday morning. However, Pelosi said there would be no public option in the legislation. 'We had it; we wanted it,' she told reporters. 'It's not in reconciliation. ... We're talking about something that's not going to be part of the legislation'" (Weiner, 3/12).

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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.