Health care reforms reaching milestone
Health care reform moved a major step closer to reality Monday when the Senate voted before dawn to overcome a Republican filibuster against a sweeping $871 billion health care bill.The health care bill was passed by senate democrats in a climatic christmas eve that could define President Barack Obama's legacy and usher in near-universal medical coverage for the first time in the country's history.
Obama's views:
"By standing up to the special interests who prevented reform for decades and who are furiously lobbying against it now, the Senate has moved us closer to reform that makes a tremendous difference for families, for seniors, for businesses, and for the country as a whole," Obama told reporters at the White House.
Advantages:
By this policy 94% of the legal US residents will be insured by 2019 and significantly reduce the federal deficit, according to the Congressional Budget Office's estimates. The Senate's bill must still be merged with legislation passed by the House before Obama could sign a final bill in the new year. There are significant differences between the two measures but Democrats say they've come too far now to fail.