WASHINGTON -- House Democrats are on track for a Sunday vote on sweeping health care legislation that will expand coverage to millions of uninsured while also reducing the federal deficit, leaders said Thursday.
The bill delivers on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority by providing coverage to more than 30 million people now uninsured at a 10-year cost of $940 billion. It does so through a combination of tax credits for middle class households and an expansion of the Medicaid program for low income people.
The Number 2 Democrat in the House said the health care package would also reduce the federal deficit by more than $100 billion over its first 10 years - and more than $1 trillion in the second decade.
"I think the momentum is growing for this bill," said Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. "The more and more people have looked at this bill...a greater number of people are becoming more comfortable."
The big expansion of coverage would not come until 2014, when new health insurance marketplaces open for business.