U.S. Congressman Louie Gohmert has called on East Texas residents and "all those who reject a government takeover of health care" to join him on the east steps of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., to protest President Barack Obama's health care plan at noon Thursday.

"The purpose of this urgent letter is to invite you to join me in our nation's capital," Gohmert said in a newsletter, "and make an emergency 'house call' on Washington this week before Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to rush a vote through Congress on her 2,000 page health care bill."

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday unveiled a sweeping health care overhaul that would transform the insurance market, create a government-run insurance plan and levy new taxes on the rich, according to a Reuters report.

The 1,990-page bill that would cost a net $894 billion over 10 years — just below President Barack Obama's target of $900 billion — and reduce the deficit by $104 billion over the same period, budget analysts estimated.

The bill's release was another step forward in Obama's aims of bringing in healthcare reform that would rein in costs, reform the insurance industry and expand coverage to many of the 46 million uninsured living in the United States.

On Sunday, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives countered with an alternative to Democrats' healthcare reform bill that would not raise taxes or require people or businesses to buy health insurance, House Republican leader John Boehner said.

House Republicans Tuesday produced a 230-page draft proposal, focusing on bringing down costs rather than extending coverage to nearly all Americans.

The bill leaves out a number of the key features of the Democrats' 1,990-page legislation, such as new requirements for employers to insure their employees and for nearly all Americans to purchase insurance, according to an Associated Press report. It also doesn't block insurers from denying coverage to people with pre-existing health conditions, as Democrats would do.

Instead, the Republican plan increases incentives for people to use health savings accounts, caps non-economic jury awards in medical malpractice cases at $250,000, provides various incentives to states with the aim of driving down premium costs and allows health insurance to be sold across state lines, the AP states.

Boehner said changes were still being made before the bill would be finalized in time to offer as an alternative when Democrats begin floor debate on their bill, possibly at the end of this week.

Gohmert said recently his office distributed hard copies to public libraries in Tyler, Longview, Lufkin, Marshall and Nacogdoches "to ensure that as many East Texans as possible" have access to the health care bill.

According to information from the White House's Web site, the plan, for those that have health insurance, would: end discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions; limit premium discrimination based on gender and age; prevent insurance companies from dropping coverage when people are sick and need it most; cap out-of pocket expenses so people don't go broke when they get sick; eliminate extra charges for preventive care like mammograms, flu shots and diabetes tests to improve health and save money; protect Medicare for seniors; and eliminate the "donut-hole" gap in coverage for prescription drugs.

For those who don't have insurance, the plan would: create a new insurance marketplace, the Exchange, that allows people without insurance and small businesses to compare plans and buy insurance at competitive prices; provide new tax credits to help people buy insurance; provide small businesses tax credits and affordable options for covering employees; offer a public health insurance option to provide the uninsured and those who can't find affordable coverage with a real choice; and immediately offer new, low-cost coverage through a national "high risk" pool to protect people with preexisting conditions from financial ruin until the new Exchange is created.