Senate Passes Measure to Overhaul Health-Care System

In a 60-39 vote, the Senate approves an $871 billion bill that would extend coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans

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By Nicole Gaouette, Catherine Dodge and Ryan J. Donmoyer

(Bloomberg)—The Senate approved legislation that would make the broadest changes to the U.S. health-care system in decades, advancing President Barack Obama's top domestic priority after months of partisan wrangling.

The Senate voted 60-39, with all Democrats and two independents backing an $871 billion measure that would extend coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans. Republicans opposed the legislation, saying it would raise taxes, widen the federal deficit and hurt private companies such as Hartford, Connecticut-based Aetna Inc.

The legislation "brings us toward the end of a nearly century-long struggle to reform America's health-care system," Obama said at the White House before leaving for a Christmas vacation in Hawaii. "We can't doom another generation of Americans to soaring costs and eroding coverage and exploding deficits."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, called the early-morning vote "a victory for the American people."

His counterpart, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, pledged to continue fighting a measure he said doesn't solve the problem of skyrocketing health-care costs.

"My colleagues and I will work to stop this bill from becoming law," he said.

Seeking Compromise

The Senate and House must now work together on a compromise between their two versions, a process that Democrats want to finish before the president's State of the Union address in late January or early February. Negotiations will center on the different tax proposals in each measure, provisions on abortion and a new government-run insurance program that's included in the House bill and not the Senate's.

The Obama administration is aiming at completing a compromise around the time of the speech and before next year's budget is presented to Congress in early February, said an administration official speaking on condition of anonymity.

Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California plan to talk next week, and aides from both chambers will likely start working on the legislation during the first week of January, said Reid's spokesman Jim Manley.

Expanded Coverage

Both bills represent the biggest expansion of health coverage since Congress created the Medicare program for the elderly in 1965 and would restructure a system that represents about 18 percent of the world's largest economy. Obama has linked the effort to curb rising medical costs to the long-term health of the U.S. economy.

The Senate's passage follows a debate that dominated Capitol Hill for the year and was marked by partisan rancor. Reid was forced to mend rifts within his own party that threatened to derail the measure.

Republicans rejected attempts by Democrats to hold the vote on final passage earlier in the week. It was the first time the Senate held a vote on Christmas Eve since 1895, according to the Senate Press Gallery.