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US Senate Sets Final Health Care Vote for Thursday

   The  U.S. Senate has scheduled a Christmas Eve Thursday vote on health
   care reform legislation.

   VOA News 23 December 2009
   Sen.  Mitch  McConnell of Ky., center, shows copy of Democratic health
   care  reform bill during news conference on Capitol Hil (Nov 2009 file
   photo)

Photo: AP

   Sen.  Mitch  McConnell of Ky., center, shows copy of Democratic health
   care  reform bill during news conference on Capitol Hil (Nov 2009 file
   photo)

   Senators announced they will vote on the bill Thursday morning.  Plans
   to hold the vote later that day were revised to allow the senators and
   their  staff  to travel home from Washington in time for the Christmas
   holiday, Friday.
   Before  that  vote, however, the Senate must clear one last procedural
   hurdle Wednesday -- a vote to end debate on the bill.
   The  legislation  is  expected  to  pass Thursday's crucial vote.  But
   before the president can sign it into law, the Senate and the House of
   Representatives  must  reconcile  their  two  separate versions of the
   bill.   The  two  versions  differ  on  several  key points, meaning a
   compromise could take time.
   President Barack Obama has made health care reform a top priority, and
   says  he  will  not  leave Washington for the holiday until the Senate
   finishes its work.
   The proposed legislation would extend coverage to 31 million Americans
   now without health insurance, and ban insurance companies from denying
   benefits because of pre-existing medical conditions.
   Minority  Republicans  in the Senate say the Democratic-backed bill is
   too expensive, and they still hope to block it.
   A  Republican  from  the  southern  state  of  Alabama,  Senator  Jeff
   Sessions,   accused   Democrats   of  hiding  the  true  cost  of  the
   legislation,  saying  it  is  not financially sound.  The non-partisan
   Congressional Budget Office says the bill will cost $871 billion.
   Another Republican, Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, called the legislation
   a Washington takeover of health care.
   Negotiations  for  a  compromise  final  version are expected to begin
   after  the  Christmas  holiday,  with President Obama hoping to sign a
   bill into law sometime early next year.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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