Obama's historic US healthcare bill sent back for new vote
Obama's US healthcare bill will be sent back for a new vote
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Thursday, 25, Mar 2010 07:54
By Richard James.
Barack Obama's historic US healthcare bill must be sent back to the House of Representatives for a new vote due to a procedural "violation", it has emerged.
The reform bill was only passed on Sunday but it will now receive a fresh vote after two Republican challenges on points of order under budget reconciliation rules were upheld, the Times reports.
Commenting on the news, a spokeswoman for Tom Harkin, the Democratic chairman of the Senate health committee, said: "We are confident the House will quickly pass the bill with these minor changes."
The points of order are believed to include a revamping of the student loan program included in the package.
The House only narrowly passed the $940 billion bill at the weekend and Mr Obama will be frustrated at seeing it return yet another vote, especially as he signed it into law on Tuesday.
The decision to send the bill back to the House of Representatives was made late on Wednesday night after an all-night voting session in which Republicans submitted some 30 amendments to the bill - all of which were rejected by Democrats.
However, Senate Parliamentarian Alan Frumin did decide to uphold two challenges, described later as "relatively minor provisions".
Mr Obama's healthcare reform package will eventually extend cover to 32 million extra Americans currently without health insurance.