Senate Passes Health Care Bill

Unanimous Republican opposition has forced Reid to win the support of all 60 members of his traditionally fractious Democratic caucus. Compromises made to win the backing of more conservative members, such as Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, have enraged many liberal Democrats and threatened to undermine support for the bill.
Liberal Democrats are particularly upset with Reid's decision to abandon a government-run public health insurance option and an expansion of Medicare to Americans as young as age 55 -- ideas strongly opposed by Lieberman and other centrists.
Top Democrats, however, argue that the Senate bill as written would still constitute a positive change of historic proportions. The legislation, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, would extend health insurance coverage to over 30 million Americans while reducing the federal deficit by $132 billion over the next decade.
The deficit would drop by another $1.3 trillion between the years 2019 and 2029, the CBO said.