Senate passes broad health reform bill

December 23, 2009 – 4:47 pm

“This is a victory for the American people,” Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada told reporters afterward.

The vote clears the way for tough negotiations in January with the House of Representatives, which approved its own version on Nov. 7 that features different approaches on taxes, abortion and a proposed new government-run insurance program.

Once House-Senate negotiators agree on a single bill, each chamber must approve it again before sending it to Obama to sign into law. Democrats hope to finish work before Obama’s State of the Union address in late January.

“This fight is long from over,” said Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky “My colleagues and I will work to stop this bill from becoming law.”

The Christmas Eve Senate session–the first since 1895–fulfilled a pledge by Sen. Reid to pass the bill before Christmas. Republican opponents delayed the final vote to the last day possible under Senate rules, but agreed to an early-morning vote to let people head home.

Senators called out their votes from their desk in a formal roll-call. Sen. Reid, who had been working around the clock for four weeks, mistakenly voted “no” when his name was first called before voting for the bill, prompting a roar of laughter in the chamber.

“This is for my friend Ted Kennedy,” 92-year-old Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., said as he voted “yes.” Sen. Kennedy, who championed health care reform during his long Senate career, died in August of brain cancer.

The overhaul, President Obama’s top legislative priority, would lead to the biggest changes in the $2.5 trillion U.S. health care system since the 1965 creation of the government-run Medicare health program for the elderly and disabled.

The bill would extend health coverage to more than 30 million uninsured, covering 94% of all Americans, and halt industry practices such as refusing insurance to people with pre-existing medical conditions.

It also would require most Americans to have insurance, give subsidies to help some pay for coverage and create state-based exchanges where the uninsured can compare and shop for plans.

Major provisions such as the exchanges would not kick in until 2014 but many of the insurance reforms such as barring companies from dropping coverage for the sick will begin in the first year.

Republican critics say the bill is an expensive and heavy-handed intrusion in the health care sector that will drive up costs, increase the budget deficit and reduce patients’ choices.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the Senate bill will cut the federal deficit by $132 billion over 10 years, but critics argue the expected revenue increases and cost savings may never materialize.

Passage of the bill was critical for President Obama, whose political standing and legislative agenda could hinge on its success. His public approval ratings have dipped to about 50% in many polls as the acrimonious debate has dragged on.

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