By: Patricia Murphy
Source: politicsdaily.com
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed full confidence that health care reform will pass the House when she held a Capitol Hill press conference to push Democratic efforts to reform the health care system.
Pelosi began by touting the success of the Democrats’ efforts so far, pointing out that two of three House committees and one of the two Senate committees have passed health care reform bills. She said the bills coming forward would ensure that “you have a cap on your costs, but no cap on your benefits.” Specifically, she said that the House legislation, which is still being debated in the Energy and Commerce Committee, will cap out-of-pocket expenses, prevent denials by insurance companies for preexisting conditions, and would not require co-pays for preventative services.
When asked about conservative Democrats’ threats to vote against the House bill because of its trillion-dollar price tag, Pelosi said, “The Blue Dogs have raised issues we are all concerned about — reducing costs.” Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR), the chairman of the Blue Dog health care task force, said in a statement today, “We are making progress; however, we have a long way to go.”
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama will make his case for urgent health care reform in a prime time news conference Wednesday night at 8:00 pm, eastern time.
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