Senate Finance Panel Passes Health Plan

The Senate Finance Committee has decided today to approve an $829 billion plan that will overhaul healthcare in the United States in an attempt to make it more affordable and accessible to every citizen of the U.S. This means that the entire Senate will now be able to debate over the bill, which would constitute the largest expansion of the government’s role in healthcare since 1965’s creation of Medicare.

The bill concerning healthcare reform, which is President Obama’s top domestic priority, was approved by a party-line vote in which only one Republic senator, Olympia Snowe, decided to cross party lines and vote for the bill. Snowe’s actions mark the first time in the Democrat-controlled Congress that a Republican has supported healthcare legislation reform.

Montana Democratic Senator Max Baucus has been one of the driving forces behind the bill, stating that it is balanced enough to get through the Senate. His bill will now be merged with the legislation put forth by the other congressional committees and subjected to floor debates, after which each chamber of Congress will have a chance to vote on the bill. The bill has several provisions that are essentially compromises to make the bill appeal to more senators but according to most of the legislators involved, there is still a long way to go.

Health Care (Image: Flickr)