US Senate votes for Health Care Reform Bill, after Democrats agree compromise with dissident

After weeks of deliberation, the US senate has passed ' by a 60 to 40 vote - the highly controversial $849 billion Health Care Reform Bill, sponsored by Majority Leader Harry Reid (Democrat, Nevada) and. designed to secure coverage for millions of uninsured Americans, that could lead to significant changes in the country's medical system (The Pharma Letters passim).

There was unanimous backing from the Democrats in the vote that took place in the early hours of this morning (1:01am local time in snow-covered Washington DC,) in a bid to give US President Barack Obama the Christmas present he wanted. However, the Senate Bill still has to be reconciled with a similar legislation passed in the House of Representatives in November before it can be signed into law by the President.

Under the Senate bill, most Americans would have to have health insurance, while private insurers would be banned from refusing to provide insurance because applicants had pre-existing medical conditions. Insurance would be made more affordable with subsidies available to help those in lower income bands, the Democrats say. People would also be able to take part in new insurance market places and be able to choose to buy government-sold insurance from 2014, a provision intended to help regulate the prices charged by private companies.  Large companies would be required by law to provide coverage to staff. The costs would be covered by government cuts on future Medicare spending.