US Senate to pass Healthcare Bill

US: Senate Democrats moved closer on Monday to passing landmark healthcare legislation by Christmas after scoring a win in the first big test vote and gaining the support of a powerful lobbying group for doctors.

In a middle-of-the-night vote in the snowy U.S. capital, Democrats rounded up 60 votes to clear a crucial Republican procedural hurdle and put a broad revamp of the healthcare system on a path for passage on Christmas Eve.

“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,” said President Barack Obama.

The vote early on Monday was the first test of whether Democrats could stick together to secure the 60 votes needed to overcome unified Republican opposition and muscle changes to the healthcare system through the Senate.

The healthcare overhaul, Obama’s top legislative priority, faces two more procedural tests with a 60-vote threshold on Tuesday morning and Wednesday afternoon before a vote on final passage now scheduled for Thursday night.

“We’ll get this passed before Christmas and it will be one of the best Christmas presents this Congress has ever given the American people,” said Democratic Senator Tom Harkin.

The influential American Medical Association, the largest doctors’ group with 250,000 members, endorsed the Senate legislation and said it would provide significant reform.

“This bill advances many of our priority issues for achieving the vision of a health system that works for patients and physicians,” AMA President-elect Cecil Wilson told reporters at a news conference with Democratic senators.

The House of Representatives passed its own version of healthcare legislation on Nov. 7.

Once the Senate passes its bill, lawmakers must iron out differences between the competing versions, a negotiation expected to begin in January, and both chambers would have to pass the measure again before sending it to Obama to sign.

Washington, Reuters