Pelosi on Health Care: 'We Have the Votes'

At a Capitol Hill press conference today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed full confidence that health care reform will pass the House.

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."

In her press conference, Pelosi said she supports the efforts of the Blue Dogs to make the cost of care cheaper, but noted that the Congressional Budget Office does not build cost savings from prevention and elimination of waste into their final "score," or price tag, of the bill.

She would not comment on tax increases, on the wealthy or on employee health benefits, other than to say she wants to pull savings out of the existing system before looking for revenue streams. The House Ways and Means Committee has already passed a surtax on wealthy Americans to fund health care reform.

When pressed on the chances of the House passing health care reform before the August recess, Pelosi said she wants a bill "sooner rather than later" and expressed complete confidence that heath care reform will pass the House.

"I have no question that we have the votes on the floor of the House to pass this legislation," Pelosi said.