By KUNA,
Washington : With a vote of 220-215, Congress passed a 10-trillion-dollar health care reform plan late Saturday that would extend health coverage to more than 36 million uninsured Americans.
Democrats and one Republican, Joseph Cao from Louisiana, in the House of Representatives narrowly passed the legislation which is the most sweeping change to the nation’s health care system in a half-century.
The bill would create a government-backed insurance plan to compete with private firms and would end denial of coverage based on preexisting medical problems.
It also included a controversial amendment to restrict coverage of abortion.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from California said, shortly after the vote, that President Barack Obama congratulated lawmakers for the “great victory for the American people.” Obama had met with lawmakers in Congress early Saturday to lobby Democratic allies to pass the bill, but 39 still joined 176 of the House Republicans in opposition to the proposal.
“We are proud of our success and we are proud of the American Congress,” Pelosi said after the vote.