House debate on the Affordable Health Care for America Act could potentially spill over into next week, although the immediate goal is to vote on the bill by Saturday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said during a teleconference sponsored by Families USA.
“Assuming we follow the schedule we have set, the expectation is to finish debate on the bill” and vote on its passage Saturday evening, Hoyer said. That's provided there are no delay tactics by Republican members, he added. “We could make additional time if needed.”
Hoyer brushed off comments from House GOP Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) that the bill would kill jobs, asserting, “the opposition will not preclude this effort from going forward.”
He acknowledged that tougher work lay ahead to reconcile the House and Senate bills in conference proceedings. “Clearly there are significant differences between the two bills,” Hoyer said, noting that some advocates believe the House bill would provide more accessibility to care and cover more people.
Hoyer said congressional Democrats were continuing to work on two major sticking points in the bill: the prevention of federal funding of abortion, and the rights of illegal immigrants to purchase insurance. “We're working on those [issues] now to make sure we have the construct to facilitate passage of the bill.”
On a separate issue, Hoyer mentioned that stand-alone legislation to address Medicare's physician payment problem could be considered by the House as early as Nov. 16.
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