With Speaker Nancy Pelosi apparently determined to force a vote on a health-care bill on Saturday in the U.S. House, Indiana’s congressional delegation should be cautious about supporting the $1 trillion proposal, which attempts to dramatically reshape one-sixth of the American economy.

The House bill almost certainly would cost Americans jobs. That’s because Pelosi’s proposal would pay for a new federal entitlement by jacking up taxes on businesses that don’t offer health insurance to their employees. Small businesses, which generate most new jobs, could be especially hard hit.

With new jobless numbers due today, the unemployment rate is expected to remain near 10 percent for the next several months. Adding to the downward pressures on job creation now would be particularly bad timing.

As would piling up even more debt. The Pelosi bill achieves fiscal balance, as its supporters claim, only through sleight-of-hand. It would, in fact, add another $200 billion to the deficit. And that’s before Congress begins adding further costs, as it inevitably would, to the new entitlement program.

Indiana’s moderate House Democrats — Joe Donnelly, Brad Ellsworth and Baron Hill — need to be especially cautious about embracing Pelosi’s package. Each has painted himself as a fiscally responsible leader who brings common-sense values to Washington. It would be difficult to square that image with a vote for a 1,900-page bill that would destroy jobs and drive up the deficit.

Many of President Barack Obama’s concerns about the nation’s health-care system are warranted. Americans can’t afford to stay on the current path. But a moderate correction, rather than the radical overhaul the House leadership has pitched, offers the better course.