Democrats see healthcare bill passage

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the House of Representatives neared final passage on Sunday of a sweeping healthcare overhaul that would create the biggest health policy changes in four decades and hand President Barack Obama a landmark victory.

Democrats said they had the 216 votes needed for final passage after the White House won the support of a handful of anti-abortion holdouts with a promise Obama would issue an order reaffirming a ban on using federal funds for abortion.

The overhaul, Obama's top domestic priority, later cleared its first procedural hurdle when the House approved the rule governing the bill's debate on a 224-206 vote.

"This bill is going to go through," Representative Bart Stupak, the leader of the anti-abortion group, told reporters as he announced the deal with the White House. "We are well past 216."

Stupak, who was joined at his announcement by six other abortion rights opponents, said he was satisfied Obama's executive order would ensure current law banning the use of federal funds for abortion would not change under the healthcare overhaul.

"The president has said from the start that this health insurance reform should not be the forum to upset long-standing precedent," White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said in announcing the executive order.

The deal followed two days of intense negotiations with Stupak and a dwindling band of undecided members as House leaders tried to nail down the 216 votes needed to pass the bill over unified Republican opposition.

The legislation would usher in the most sweeping changes to the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare system in decades. It would expand coverage to millions of uninsured people and bar insurance companies from denying coverage in certain cases.

Democratic Representative Brian Baird said he would switch from his "no" vote in November, when the overhaul passed with three votes to spare, to "yes." He is the ninth Democrat to announce a switch to a yes vote since the middle of last week.

The House will vote late on Sunday on the Senate-passed version of the bill. If approved, it would become law once signed by Obama. It also will vote on a second package of revisions to the bill sought by House Democrats.

If the House approves the package of changes to the Senate bill, the Senate would take it up next week and would need just a simple majority in the 100-member chamber to pass it.

The votes will cap a nine-month political battle over the bill, which would create the biggest changes in the healthcare system since the 1965 creation of the government-run Medicare health program for the elderly and disabled.

The bill would extend health coverage to 32 million uninsured, covering 95 percent of all Americans, and halt industry practices such as refusing insurance to people with pre-existing medical conditions.

It also would require most Americans to have insurance, give subsidies to help some pay for coverage and create state-based exchanges where the uninsured can compare and shop for plans.

Republican critics say the bill is a heavy-handed intrusion in the healthcare sector that will drive up costs, increase the budget deficit and reduce patients' choices.

Hundreds of conservative "Tea Party" activists rallied outside the Capitol, waving yellow "Don't Tread on Me" flags and chanting "kill the bill." Many entered the Capitol, wandering the hallways to buttonhole lawmakers and at one point disrupting House proceedings.

(Additional reporting by Susan Heavey, Thomas Ferraro and Paul Simao; Editing by Deborah Charles and Chris Wilson)