Senate passes Obama health reform

Dec 24 2009

The US Senate has passed President Barack Obama's landmark health care overhaul in a climactic Christmas Eve vote, extending medical insurance to 30 million Americans.

The bill requires nearly all Americans to buy insurance and forbids insurance companies from denying coverage based on patients' pre-existing conditions.

The 60-39 vote on a cold morning capped months of arduous negotiations and 24 days of floor debate. It followed a succession of failures by past Congresses to get to this point. Vice President Joe Biden presided as 58 Democrats and two independents voted Yes. Republicans unanimously voted No.

The Senate's bill must still be merged with legislation passed by the House before Mr Obama could sign a final bill in the new year.

There are significant differences between the two measures but Democrats say they have come too far now to fail.

President Obama later hailed the Senate passage of the historic health care bill, saying the government is now "finally poised to deliver on the promise" of overhauling a troubled system.

Mr Obama welcomed the vote as bringing America "toward the end of a nearly century-long struggle".

He said presidents since Theodore Roosevelt in 1912 have been trying unsuccessfully to overhaul medical care.

Majority Leader Harry Reid said before the vote: "This isn't the end of the process, it's merely the beginning. We'll continue to build on this success to improve our health system even more."

The House passed its own measure in November. The White House and Congress have now come further toward the goal of a comprehensive overhaul of the nation's health care system than any of their predecessors.