Senate Passes Health Insurance Reform Bill

Well. Here it is:

The 60-to-39 party-line vote, on the 25th straight day of debate on the legislation, brings Democrats a step closer to a goal they have pursued for decades. It clears the way for negotiations with the House, which passed a broadly similar bill last month by a vote of 220 to 215.

If the two chambers can strike a deal, as seems likely, the resulting product would vastly expand the role and responsibilities of the federal government. It would, as lawmakers said repeatedly in the debate, touch the lives of nearly all Americans.

The bill would require most Americans to have health insurance, would add 15 million people to the Medicaid rolls and would subsidize private coverage for low- and middle-income people, at a cost to the government of $871 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

President Obama said after the vote that the health care bill is "the most important piece of social legislation since the Social Security Act" was adopted and that it represents "the toughest measure ever taken to hold the insurance companies accountable."

The Hill: "The 60-39 tally split directly along partisan lines, with Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) absent, underscoring not only the great divide between Democrats and Republicans but also the deftness with which Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) at long last united his fractious conference by offering key compromises to centrists but keeping liberals in the fold."

WaPo: "Difficult issues must be still resolved in final negotiations with the House, which has passed more liberal health-care reform legislation. Those talks could stretch through January and perhaps into February, Democratic leaders said."

TPM: "In an interview today with PBS, President Obama said he plans to begin working on merging the Senate and House health care bills before Congress returns from Christmas recess. ... Obama is expected to work with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to merge the bills."

Rep. Slaughter explains what's wrong with the Senate bill, and fears what ails it will not be cured in reconciliation.

Watch this space...