By Jason Leopold

Click here to read the full story by Jason Leopold posted after the bill passed.

Update 8:10 p.m. PDT: The House of Representatives has just passed an historic health care reform bill. The bill passed by a vote of 220 to 215, with Republican Rep. Anh Cao of Louisiana voting with Democrats. Thirty-nine Democrats voted no.

This is the first time in more than 40 years that Congress has passed legislation to significantly expand health care. The passage of the bill marks a major victory for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Truthout is preparing an in-depth report on the historic vote. Please check back for updates.

Update 7:53 p.m. PDT: The Republican motion to recommit can be found here. The motion to recommit is being used by GOP lawmakers to hold up passage of the health care bill.

By way of background, "The rules of the House permit motions to recommit under two different circumstances. First, immediately before the House votes on passing a bill or joint resolution, a Member can move to recommit that measure to the House standing committee that had considered and reported it. Second, before the House votes to accept or reject a conference report, a Member sometimes can move to recommit the report to the conference committee. In each case, the right to make recommittal motions is a prerogative of the minority."

"Under clause 2 of Rule XIX, one motion is in order to recommit a bill or joint resolution after the House has ordered the previous question on the measure and before the vote on passing it. The Speaker gives preference in recognition for this purpose to a Member of the minority party who opposes the bill. A member of the committee that reported the bill is likely to be recognized before a non-committee member, and any member of the minority party is recognized before a member of the majority party. House resolutions and concurrent resolutions are not subject to recommittal motions."

Update 7:48 p.m. PDT: The alternative Republican health care plan, sponsored by Rep. John Boehner amendment, went down in flames. The House defeated the plan by a vote of 176-258. Rep. Tim Johnson, (R-Illinois), was the only Republican who voted against it.

Update 7:25 p.m. PDT: The Stupak Amendment, which states, "any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion" cannot be funded, just passed the House in advance of the health care reform bill on a vote of 240-194. Democrats split 64-192 against the amendment, but 176 Republicans voted in favor of it while none opposed it. Republican Jon Shadegg of Arizona voted present.

The amendment, introduced by "Democrat for Life" Bart Stupak, could block all insurance plans - including private coverage - from covering abortion. In committee, some House progressives warned they might vote against the larger bill should the amendment pass.

Update 6:32 p.m. PDT: We're going to take a break and return for the vote on the anti-abortion amendment scheduled to take place in about 30 minutes.

Update 6:21 p.m. PDT: Roll Call, quoting unnamed House sources, just reported that Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao, (R-Louisiana), may be the sole Republican to vote in favor of the health care bill.

Update 5:52 p.m. PDT: It's worth noting that the Republican alternative plan, sponsored by Rep. John Boehner, now under debate, was harshly criticized in an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office a couple of days ago. The GOP plan would only provide health care coverage to 3 million Americans, barely keeping up with population growth.

As Ezra Klein pointed out in the Washington Post Thursday:

CBO begins with the baseline estimate that 17 percent of legal, non-elderly residents won't have health-care insurance in 2010. In 2019, after 10 years of the Republican plan, CBO estimates that ...17 percent of legal, non-elderly residents won't have health-care insurance. The Republican alternative will have helped 3 million people secure coverage, which is barely keeping up with population growth. Compare that to the Democratic bill, which covers 36 million more people and cuts the uninsured population to 4 percent.

But maybe, you say, the Republican bill does a really good job cutting costs. According to CBO, the GOP's alternative will shave $68 billion off the deficit in the next 10 years. The Democrats, CBO says, will slice $104 billion off the deficit.

The Democratic bill, in other words, covers 12 times as many people and saves $36 billion more than the Republican plan. And amazingly, the Democratic bill has already been through three committees and a merger process. It's already been shown to interest groups and advocacy organizations and industry stakeholders. It's already made its compromises with reality. It's already been through the legislative sausage grinder. And yet it saves more money and covers more people than the blank-slate alternative proposed by John Boehner and the House Republicans. The Democrats, constrained by reality, produced a far better plan than Boehner, who was constrained solely by his political imagination and legislative skill. 

Update 5:49 p.m. PDT: Republicans remain "tight-lipped on the details of their motion to recommit, which is rumored to be anything from a provision to bar illegal immigrants from purchasing health insurance to comprehensive tort reform to medical malpractice reform," Roll Call reports.

Update 5:30 p.m. PDT: Roll Call reports that GOP lawmakers have sent out an e-mail identifying 33 Democrats who "joined Republicans in a bipartisan fashion to oppose Speaker Pelosi’s trillion dollar plus overhaul of the nation’s health care system.” 

Those Democrats, many of whom are Blue Dogs, include Reps. John Adler (N.J.), Brian Baird (Wash.), John Barrow (Ga.), Dan Boren (Okla.), Rick Boucher (Va.), Allen Boyd (Fla.), Bobby Bright (Ala.), Travis Childers (Miss.), Artur Davis (Ala.), Lincoln Davis (Tenn.), Chet Edwards (Texas), Bart Gordon (Tenn.), Parker Griffith (Ala.), Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (S.D.), Tim Holden (Pa.), Larry Kissell (N.C.), Suzanne Kosmas (Fla), Frank Kratovil (Md.), Dan Lipinski (Ill.), Jim Marshall (Ga.), Eric Massa (N.Y.), Jim Matheson (Utah), Mike McIntyre (N.C.), Michael McMahon (N.Y.), Charlie Melancon (La.), Walt Minnick (Idaho), Glenn Nye (Va.), Collin Peterson (Minn.), Mike Ross (Ark.), Ike Skelton (Mo.), John Tanner (Tenn.), Gene Taylor (Miss.) and Harry Teague (N.M.).

Update 5:11 p.m. PDT: The debate over the Stupak anti-abortion amendment is heating up. Republican firebrand Michelle Bachmann, (R-Minnesota), said, "It is the duty of government to preserve and protect human life."

Rep. Stupak, a pro-life Democrat, said, "We must do no harm, it is not ours to decide who lives and who dies."

Update 4:53 p.m. PDT: The House has started to debate Rep. Bart Stupak's anti-abortion amendment.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, (D-New York), issued a statement earlier saying he would vote against the amendment, which includes a permanent ban on abortion coverage for any insurance plan included in the government exchange that is funded in part with a federal subsidy.

Nadler said, “The Stupak amendment requires women to plan for unplanned pregnancy. This defies logic and is absurd. This is a bill to extend health care to all Americans. It should not be used as a political football to change existing law regarding abortion coverage.”

Stupak, a member of the blue dog coalition, said earlier Saturday that he has secured about 225 votes in support of the amendment, more than enough needed for the provision to pass.

Update 4:19 p.m. PDT: One of the more outrageous claims Republicans made today about the health care reform bill is that people who failed to purchase health insurance would be prosecuted and jailed.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's office just posted a helpful mythbusters guide on her website and noted that this is simply a case of Republican fear mongering run amok.

Pelosi's office did say that "it would only be in extremely rare circumstances that criminal prosecutions of any kind would be pursued," but it is a myth for Republicans to claim that people who did not purchase health insurance coverage under the Democrats' plan would be thrown in jail.

Her office explained it this way:

Right now, every insured American family will pay $1,017 a year in insurance premiums just to cover the medical expenses of the uninsured. That’s $42.7 billion this year - or $1,354 per second. Under the Affordable Health Care for America Act, Americans are responsible for purchasing health insurance coverage, and most employers will be responsible for offering coverage–individuals, employers, and the government are all responsible for contributing to the cost of coverage. This shared responsibility provision, for those who don’t already have insurance, requires Americans to either purchase affordable health insurance or pay a fee of 2.5% of their income so they are not driving up everyone else’s health costs. 

Under the bill, the only people who would face the fee for not purchasing insurance are those who can truly afford to purchase such insurance.

For those who can afford insurance but for some reason do not purchase it, they simply pay the fee – a fee designed to cover their costs when they use the health care system. For a small number of people who might refuse to pay the fee, it is important to remember that, in the majority of cases, the IRS – which will enforce the insurance requirement – uses the CIVIL process to settle delinquent penalties and taxes.

It would only be in extremely rare circumstances that criminal prosecutions of any kind would be pursued:

In 2008, there were 156 million individual tax returns filed in the United States. Out of all of those 156 million returns, there were only 100 criminal prosecutions for willful failure to pay taxes – and only for the most egregious examples of those who willfully defraud the system.

Of course, true access to quality health care cannot happen if coverage is unaffordable. The bill will ensure accessible health coverage for all Americans by providing affordability credits and expanding Medicaid for those below 150 percent of poverty. The bill is designed to ensure that the shared responsibility requirement is never imposed on those who cannot afford to purchase health insurance. Some of the key affordability provisions:

Under our bill, there are generous affordability credits to help people purchase health insurance on the Health Insurance Exchange – with the credits on a sliding scale according to someone’s income.

There is a hardship exemption for those who cannot afford insurance even with affordability credits.

The lowest-income Americans qualify for Medicaid.

Update 3:55 p.m. PDT: Democratic sources tell POLITICO that their internal head counts now exceed the 218 votes needed to pass the health care reform bill.

Update 3:46 p.m. PDT: On the House floor minutes ago, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said, "in election we gave people hope - today we will give them help.

"Today we will pass the Affordable Health Care for America Act...We will make history. We will also make progress for America's working families."

Update 3:37 p.m. PDT: Rep. Pete Hoekstra, (R-Michigan), who joined protestors on Capitol Hill today and crumpled up the entire 1,990-page health care reform bill, said he will vote "no" because "that's the vote that says 'I love my country.'"

Update 3:24 p.m. PDT: General debate on the bill is set to expire at 4 p.m. PDT at which time the House will begin debating Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak's anti-abortion amendment.

Update 3:11 p.m. PDT: A final vote on the bill is now expected to take place between 7:30 and 9 p.m. PDT., House aides tell us. 

Update 2:49 p.m. PDT: Congressional Quarterly and the Baltimore Sun are reporting that Congressman Frank Kratovil, (D-Maryland), will vote against the health care bill.

Update 2:46 p.m. PDT: Congressman Ted Poe, (R-Texas), characterized the health care reform bill as "government oppression of the people forcing them to buy insurance whether they want to or not."

Update 2:44 p.m. PDT: AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka blasts Republicans, saying they should be embarrassed at their "shrill, dishonest rhetoric."

Update 2:21 p.m. PDT: Rep. Ander Crenshaw, (R-Florida), claims, wrongfully, that the "Pelosi plan" will negatively impact the health care coverage of people serving in the military, who already receive health care paid for by the federal government.

Update 2:15 p.m. PDT: Republicans have stepped up their fear mongering, talking about "criminal penalties" for people who don't carry health care coverage under the reform bill.

Update 1:53 p.m. PDT: MSNBC's Chuck Todd is reporting that "18 of the 30 public no votes are southern Dems and two of the Dems are running statewide (Davis for AL GOV and Melancon for LA SEN)."

Todd added that House Democratic leaders are trying to avoid passing the bill with 218 votes.

Update 1:25 p.m. PDT: The Ways and Means Committee portion of the debate is scheduled to begin. The Energy and Commerce Committee just wrapped up their alotted time. Later this afternoon, we can expect debate on the Republican's health care alternative later this afternoon as well as what is sure to be a heated discussion over the anti-abortion amendment.

Democratic aides are telling us that they expect a final vote on the bill to take place at 6 p.m. PDT.

Update 1:20 p.m. PDT: The baby GOP Rep John Shadegg used as a prop to scare lawmakers about the cost of the $1 trillion health care reform bill on future generations was 7-month-old Maddie Thompson, daughter of Shadegg staffer Kristin Thompson.

"I wish this was my granddaughter," Shadegg said. "This is Maddie. Maddie believes in freedom. Maddie likes America because we have freedom here. And Maddie believes in patient choice health care. She asked to come here today to say she doesn't want the government to take over health care. She wants to keep her plan."

Here's the clip:

Update 1:01 p.m. PDT: Rep. John Shadegg, (R-Arizona), just used a baby as a prop on the House floor to try and make a point about the cost of the bill for future generations. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman quipped, "That was a remarkable child and a great ventriloquist."

Update 12:55 p.m. PDT: Getting back to Rep. Stupak, Roll Call reports that the Michigan Democrat has about 225 votes in favor of his anti-abortion amendement, more than enough for the provision to pass. However, Stupak warned if it fails than the health care bill will be in jeopardy of failing as well.

That position conflicts with an update from the Huffington Post, which said Stupak told reporters that if the if his amendment fails, "enough pro-lifers will have been satisfied to have had their vote on the floor that they'll turn around and support the final bill anyway."

Roll call quoted Stupak as saying, "There are a number of Members that will only vote for final passage if the Stupak amendment passes."

Stupak’s amendment includes a permanent ban on abortion coverage for any insurance plan included in the exchange that is funded in part with a federal subsidy.

Stupak, meanwhile, said he would vote in favor of the health care reform bill even if his amendment fails.

Update 12: 42 p.m. PDT: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's office said debate on the amendments to the health care reform bill is expected to begin at 4 p.m. PDT. 

Update 12: 34 p.m. PDT: Rep. Bart Stupak, (D-Michigan), a blue dog Democrat, just told reporters that the health care reform bill has enough votes to pass regardless of whether his abortion amendment passes.

Update 12:28 p.m. PDT: We should note that Rep. John Dingell, (D-Michigan), the longest serving member in the House, is presiding over the chamber today as Congress prepares to vote on the health care reform bill of which he is the sponsor.

The last time Dingell presided over the House was 1965, the year Congress passed legislation creating Medicare. Dingell's late father, who was also a Congressman, first introduced a Universal Healh Care bill in 1933.

Update 12:15 p.m. PDT: Here's a transcript of President Obama's remarks in the Rose Garden Saturday prior to the House debate on the health care reform legislation.

Good afternoon, everybody. I just want to say a few words about the landmark vote that the House of Representatives is poised to take today -- a vote that can bring us one step closer to making real the promise of quality, affordable health care for the American people.

For the better part of a year now, members of the House and the Senate have been working diligently and constructively to craft legislation that will benefit millions of American families and millions of American businesses who urgently need it. For the first time ever, they've passed bills through every single committee responsible for reform. They've brought us closer than we have ever been to passing health insurance reform on behalf of the American people.

Now is the time to finish the job. The bill that the House has produced will provide stability and security for Americans who have insurance; quality, affordable options for those who don't; and lower costs for American families and American businesses. And as I've insisted from the beginning, it is a bill that is fully paid for and will actually reduce our long-term federal deficit.

This bill is change that the American people urgently need. Don't just take my word for it. Consider the national groups who've come out in support of this bill on behalf of their members: The Consumers Union supports it because it will create -- and I quote -- "a more secure, affordable health care system for the American people."

The American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association support it on behalf of doctors and nurses and medical professionals who know firsthand what's broken in our current system, and who see what happens when their patients can't get the care they need because of insurance industry bureaucracies.

The National Farmers Union supports this bill because it will control costs for farmers and ranchers, and address the unique challenges rural Americans face when it comes to receiving quality care.

And the AARP supports it because it will achieve the goal for which the AARP has been fighting for decades -- reducing the cost of health care, expanding coverage for America's seniors, and strengthening Medicare for the long haul.

Now, no bill can ever contain everything that everybody wants, or please every constituency and every district. That's an impossible task. But what is possible, what's in our grasp right now is the chance to prevent a future where every day 14,000 Americans continue to lose their health insurance, and every year 18,000 Americans die because they don't have it; a future where crushing costs keep small businesses from succeeding and big businesses from competing in the global economy; a future where countless dreams are deferred or scaled back because of a broken system we could have fixed when we had the chance.

What we can do right now is choose a better future and pass a bill that brings us to the very cusp of building what so many generations of Americans have sought to build -- a better health care system for this country.

Millions of Americans are watching right now. Their families and their businesses are counting on us. After all, this is why they sent us here, to finally confront the challenges that Washington had been putting off for decades -- to make their lives better, to leave this country stronger than we found it.

I just came from the Hill where I talked to the members of Congress there, and I reminded them that opportunities like this come around maybe once in a generation. Most public servants pass through their entire careers without a chance to make as important a difference in the lives of their constituents and the life of this country. This is their moment, this is our moment, to live up to the trust that the American people have placed in us -- even when it's hard; especially when it's hard. This is our moment to deliver.

I urge members of Congress to rise to this moment. Answer the call of history, and vote yes for health insurance reform for America.

Thanks.

Update 12:02 p.m. PDT: Here is an updated whip count on Democrats' position on the health care reform bill.

Update 12:00 p.m. PDT: The Hill reported earlier Saturday that 10 Democrats have voiced their opposition to the health care reform bill currently under debate in Congress.

Those Democratic lawmakers are, according to The Hill, are: "Reps. Eric Massa (N.Y.), Frank Kratovil (Md.), Jim Matheson (Utah), Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (S.D.), Larry Kissell (N.C.), Suzanne Kosmas (Fla.), Walt Minnick (Idaho), Harry Teague (N.M.), and Mike McMahon (N.Y.)"

11:44 PDT: Welcome to truthout's live coverage of the House debate on health care reform. We will be providing a continuous stream of updates throughout the day as Democratic lawmakers prepare to pass an historic health care reform bill, one that is aimed at providing affordable health care to millions of Americans and also includes a government-run plan known as the public option.

This is the furthest lawmakers have come in decades toward overhauling the health care industry.

Moments ago, the House passed the rules of debate for the proposed health care bill by a vote of 242 to 192, which formally triggered the countdown toward a final roll-call vote expected to take place sometime this evening. 

The legislation will now be debated for the next five hours. Earlier Saturday, President Obama met with Democratic lawmakers and urged them to "finish the job" and pass the legislation.

According to a pool report distributed by the White House press office to reporters, Obama "made the case that Congress has a historic opportunity today to provide stability and security for those who have insurance, affordable coverage for those who don't and bring down the cost of health care for families, small businesses and the government.

Obama "said that we have made more progress on comprehensive reform than any administration and any Congress in the past 70 years - and we should take this historic opportunity to pass health care reform so that he can sign a bill by the end of this year," according to the pool report.

The Washington Post reported Saturday that during his closed-door meeting with Democrats, Obama warned them that failure to pass the legislation, a top priority of the president's domestic agenda, will result in fierce attacks by their Republican colleagues.

"If you think the Republicans are not going to go after you if you vote no, think again," Obama said, according to the Post, quoting an unnamed attendee.