US Senate approves healthcare reform bill
US Senate approves healthcare reform bill
Also In The News
|
By Adam Leveridge
The new Campos Meta formula one team has responded to Bernie Ecclestone's doubts over its ability to make the 2010 grid by insisting its programme to move into grand prix racing is on course. |  |
Thursday, 24, Dec 2009 04:15
By Richard James.
The US Senate has approved the final version of Barack Obama's healthcare reform bill.
The bill is aimed at providing health cover for some 30 million US citizens currently without health insurance and will bring about the largest shakeup in healthcare provision in decades.
Now the bill has been approved in the Senate, by 60 votes to 39, it still has to be reconciled with a more expansive bill passed by the House of Representatives.
The news of today's vote will be a major boost for Mr Obama who had faced severe opposition from Republicans over his plans, with many calling it too expensive and a threat to civil liberties.
Healthcare reform has been one of the president's main domestic policies since taking office. The friction caused by the bill had put his political standing on the line with many suggesting a failure to get the reforms passed could have represented a devastating blow to his authority.
In a recent interview Mr Obama denied he had made too many compromises in ensuring the bill's passage through the Senate.
The most significant change to the original reforms has been the dropping of a government-run insurance scheme, known as the public option.
Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Obama said: "This notion, I know, among some on the left that somehow this bill is not everything that it should be... I think, just ignores the real human reality that this will help millions of people and end up being the most significant piece of domestic legislation at least since medicare and maybe since social security."