Washington -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Health care reform advocates inched closer to victory Wednesday as a high-profile liberal Democrat switched his position and announced his intention to vote for a sweeping $ 875 billion plan under consideration in the House of Representatives . Rep. Dennis Kucinich , D-Ohio , said he believes `` health care is a civil right . '' He had previously characterized the bill , which cleared the Senate in December , as little more than a boondoggle for private insurers . Kucinich was publicly lobbied for his vote by President Barack Obama during the president 's visit this week to Kucinich 's congressional district in Ohio . He told reporters he 's had four meetings with Obama to discuss the bill . `` The president 's visit to my district ... underscored the urgency of this vote , '' Kucinich said . `` I have doubts about the bill ... -LSB- but -RSB- I 've decided to cast a vote in favor of the legislation . '' He said he ultimately had `` to make a decision on the bill as it is , not on the bill as I 'd like to see it . '' Kucinich is a backer of a single-payer health care system under which the government would fund all costs billed by doctors and hospitals . Kucinich 's decision to change his vote is `` a good sign , '' Obama told reporters in the Oval Office . `` I told him thank you . '' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-California , said she thought Kucinich 's switch would make a difference with a large number of liberal activists . `` He 's been a supporter of health care for all Americans for a long time , '' she said . `` He has a constituency , and many of those people still do n't understand why there is n't a public -LSB- option -RSB- . '' Pelosi has repeatedly expressed confidence that she will have enough support to pass the bill when it comes to the floor for a final vote . Read more about how votes are lining up Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer , the No. 2 House Democrat , indicated Wednesday the vote could come at some point this weekend . He said the leadership is still waiting for final cost estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office on a package of changes to the measure . Asked if the release of the CBO numbers was imminent , Pelosi said , `` I would have said ... half an hour ago , hopefully any minute . I think it 's going to take a little more time . '' She said she had no explanation for the delay . `` I do n't know the calculation , '' she said . `` I do n't know how they do it . Whatever it is , they 're the gospel and we have to live by it . '' Later , Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami said that the CBO estimates would not be released Wednesday night . Since the Democrats have said the bill will be available for reading for 72 hours before a vote , the vote can take place no sooner than Sunday , provided the CBO numbers are posted Thursday . Pelosi needs 216 votes from her 253-member caucus to pass the Senate bill . No Republicans are expected to back it . A number of House Democrats have refused to state their voting intentions publicly . Twenty-seven House Democrats , however , have indicated they will join Republicans in opposing the Senate plan . That puts opponents of reform 11 votes shy of the 216 needed to prevent Obama from scoring a major victory on his top domestic priority . Meanwhile , GOP leaders continued to pound away at the legislation on Wednesday , slamming House Democratic leaders for considering the use of a controversial legislative maneuver to pass the Senate bill . Pelosi may try to help House Democrats unhappy with the Senate bill by allowing them to avoid a direct vote on the measure . She is considering pushing for a vote on a rule that would simply `` deem '' the Senate bill to be passed . The House then would proceed to a separate vote on the more popular package of changes to the Senate plan . `` I 've never seen anything like the plan that House Democrats hatched this week to jam their health care bill through Congress , '' Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Kentucky , said Wednesday . `` Historians will remember this as a new low in this debate , the week that America was introduced to the ` scheme and deem ' approach to legislating . They 'll remember this as the week that Congress tried to pull the wool over the eyes of the public in order to get around their will . '' House Minority Leader John Boehner , R-Ohio , said Tuesday that Republicans will try to block the procedure . They will try to force a vote on a resolution requiring the Senate health care bill to be brought to an up-or-down vote . Boehner has called the maneuver -- also known as a `` self-executing rule '' -- the `` ultimate in Washington power grabs . '' House Republicans sent a letter to the Democratic head of the House Rules Committee on Wednesday asking her to move an upcoming hearing on the health care bill to a larger room to account for overwhelming public interest in the issue . The committee is responsible for deciding whether the full House will have a chance to pass the Senate bill using the self-executing rule . `` While C-SPAN may decide to cover the hearing , that does not satisfy the need for the maximum amount of transparency and openness needed to give the American people faith in this process , '' the letter said . `` By moving the hearing to a larger room , we can ensure more Americans will have the opportunity to participate in our proceedings and not be turned away at the door . '' Where does health care reform stand ? If enacted , the Democratic reform proposal would constitute the biggest expansion of federal health care guarantees since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid more than four decades ago . The plan is expected to extend insurance coverage to more than 30 million Americans . The Senate bill also would reduce federal deficits by about $ 118 billion over 10 years , according to CBO estimates . Top Republicans contend the plan amounts to an ill-conceived government takeover of the country 's health care system . They have said it would do little to slow spiraling medical costs . They also argue it would lead to higher premiums and taxes for middle-class families while resulting in deep Medicare cuts . Public opinion polls indicate a majority of Americans have turned against the administration 's health care reform plan , though individual elements of the proposal remain widely popular . CNN 's Dan Lothian , Charles Riley , Alan Silverleib , Jeff Simon , Deirdre Walsh and Robert Yoon contributed to this report .