Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Democrats sought to ease lawmakers’ concerns over funding for abortion and illegal aliens on the eve of a health-care floor debate as House leader Steny Hoyer raised the possibility tomorrow’s planned vote may be delayed.

While Hoyer said he expects the House to complete the legislation tomorrow, he told lawmakers to be available Sunday and into next week in case the debate spills over.

“We are very close” to a majority, the Maryland Democrat told reporters. “Many people still need to get a comfort level that it’s the right thing to do.”

President Barack Obama pushed back a visit to Capitol Hill to Saturday to meet with Democrats as party leaders rally support for the measure. Thousands of people protesting the bill gathered at the U.S. Capitol yesterday, and several were arrested after entering Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.

Obama postponed his planned trip today to the Capitol because he wanted to go “a little closer to the vote” and because of yesterday’s mass shooting at the Fort Hood Army Base in Texas, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. Obama plans to go tomorrow “as of now,” Gibbs said.

The White House issued a statement urging “quick action” on the legislation, calling it a “critical milestone in the effort to reform our health-care system.”

Obama Making Calls

The president has been contacting lawmakers on the bill, which calls for the biggest expansion of the nation’s health- care system since the 1965 creation of the Medicare program for the elderly.

Representative Jason Altmire, an undecided Democrat from Pennsylvania, said Obama, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and two Cabinet secretaries have called him to make the pitch that “this is an historic moment.”

Altmire said administration and House leaders have stressed that the House bill isn’t the final product, since the Senate is deliberating over its own version, “but if we didn’t do this, it’s dead,” Altmire said.

“It doesn’t appear they have the votes,” Altmire told reporters. “That’s pretty clear.”

Democratic leaders are trying to satisfy lawmakers who want assurances the legislation would restrict government financing of abortions or subsidies for illegal immigrants.

Threat From Lawmakers

Some Hispanic members threatened to vote against changing the measure to bar undocumented immigrants from buying insurance on a new online purchasing exchange.

Such a provision “would present a serious issue for many” in the Hispanic caucus, Texas Democrat Charles Gonzalez said yesterday.

The $1.05 trillion legislation would cover 36 million uninsured people and create a government program to compete with private insurers. It would require all Americans to get insurance, set up the new insurance-purchasing exchanges for people who don’t have employer-provided benefits, and provide subsidies to help people obtain coverage.

Representative Artur Davis, an Alabama Democrat, said there’s a “growing sense” among lawmakers the vote will be delayed until Sunday after a full day of debate tomorrow.

Pelosi, a California Democrat, said she is hopeful a Sunday session won’t be necessary. “It all depends on the Republicans and how long they want to delay,” she said.

“We’ll see when we get to the floor,” Pelosi said when asked if she had the votes.

AARP, AMA Endorsements

The legislation gained some momentum yesterday when Washington-based AARP, which represents 40 million seniors, and the Chicago-based American Medical Association each endorsed the measure.

At the same time, thousands of placard-waving protesters rallied outside the Capitol yesterday, where Republican lawmakers and anti-abortion activists spoke against the bill.

“Speaker Pelosi is trying to force her members to vote for a bill that the American people have soundly rejected,” House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio said at a press conference today.

America’s Health Insurance Plans, a Washington trade group representing about 1,300 health-insurance companies, registered its opposition.

“The bill does not address in any meaningful way the fact that the United States spends significantly more per unit of service than every other industrialized country,” Karen Ignagni, the group’s president said in a Nov. 5 letter to Pelosi and Boehner.

Cutting the Deficit

While the cost of the legislation has sparked concern, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said it would reduce the federal deficit over 10 years by $129 billion, up from an Oct. 29 estimate of $104 billion.

The new figure reflects some changes to the measure, including a proposal to block tax credits for the production of fuels from byproducts of pulp-making.

Democrats opposed to abortion, along with many Republicans, are concerned that lower-income Americans in the proposed health-insurance exchanges could use federal subsidies to pay for abortions.

Democratic leaders are trying to line up support for a compromise proposed by one abortion opponent, Representative Brad Ellsworth of Indiana, which would clarify the restrictions, Hoyer said.

Bishops Object

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said it opposes the Ellsworth plan. Hoyer said negotiators were attempting to change the language to satisfy the group.

On the issue of illegal aliens, the legislation bars the undocumented immigrants from getting subsidies to purchase private insurance that would go to low-and middle-income people. Illegal immigrants would also be prevented from buying insurance from the government-run insurance plan.

Some lawmakers still want to prevent the undocumented people from purchasing private coverage on the online exchange.

House Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter, a New York Democrat, said today the immigration language won’t be changed by her panel.

Raul Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat, said Hispanic lawmakers got a pledge from leaders to defeat any Republican attempt to insert language to bar undocumented immigrants from exchanges.

To contact the reporters on this story: James Rowley in Washington at jarowley@bloomberg.net; Catherine Dodge in Washington at Cdodge1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 6, 2009 16:37 EST