Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Thursday asked Congress to hold off on passing Republicans' American Health Care Act.

In doing so, she joins fellow Democrats and conservative Republicans who think lawmakers should wait to pass the bill until the Congressional Budget Office has assessed its impact.

"No vote should be called for until an independent and thoughtful review can inform deliberations," Brown said in a statement.

In the legislation's current form, hundreds of thousands of Oregonians would lose coverage, leaving the state with a multibillion-dollar funding gap. However, because insurance regulations are already in place for this year, Americans aren't likely to see any changes in their health care until next year at the earliest.

Despite pressure from both sides of the aisle, Republican members in the House are moving forward at a break-neck pace. The bill, introduced Monday evening, had passed out of two committees virtually untouched by Thursday afternoon.

Now, the measure heads to the House Budget Committee, which must approve the bill next week before a final House vote scheduled for the week of Mar. 20. But the bill's path through the Senate likely won't be as smooth.

Republican senators, including Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have asked fellow lawmakers to wait on passing the bill until the budget office releases its estimate of the bill's impact on the federal deficit.

"I think we need to know that," McConnell said at a recent Politico event, the Washington Post reported. He added that the report from the Congressional Budget Office could be released by Monday.

Brown, though, has also ordered an analysis of the bill's local impact from the Oregon Health Authority and the Department of Consumer and Business Services. This analysis will focus on the bill's impact on access to health care, the state budget and Oregon's economy.

According to Chris Pair, a spokesman for Brown, the analysis is slated for release next Thursday.

-- Anna Marum

amarum@oregonian.com

503-294-5911

@annamarum