Word: bille
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...Suspense about the outcome continued until the final hours of the debate. Passage appeared to be assured only after Michigan Congressman Bart Stupak announced in the late afternoon that he and a group of antiabortion Democrats, who had pushed for more restrictive language in the original House bill, had been satisfied that the Senate version would not allow the use of federal funds to pay for the procedure. That only came after President Obama promised to sign an executive order reaffirming that the bill would maintain a "consistency with longstanding restrictions on the use of federal funds for abortion...
...second bill passed by the House late Sunday will make adjustments to the legislation, such as lowering the impact of an excise tax on high-value insurance plans and stripping out some sweetheart deals like the now infamous cornhusker kickback, using a process known as budget reconciliation. Such changes would be filibuster-proof in the Senate, though that process could still drag on a while if Republicans choose to draw it out with objections and amendments. Even so, it will be an anticlimax to Sunday's historic House vote, which will send the underlying Senate bill to President Obama...
...House debated throughout the day, hundreds of protesters from the Tea Party movement rallied on the Capitol lawn, chanting, "Kill the bill." It was a dead-serious message, but on a glorious spring day, when cherry blossoms were just beginning to appear on the trees, the atmosphere felt more like a carnival - especially compared to the day before, when some protesters had hurled racial epithets at a few African-American members of the House. The crowd was stoked by regular appearances that lawmakers made on a balcony overlooking the protesters. "It's interesting how many faces they recognize," said Republican...
...signature domestic goal of his presidency, and the most sweeping piece of social legislation since the 1960s Great Society initiatives that saw the passage of Medicare and Medicaid. Universal coverage is a goal that has eluded Presidents going at least as far back as Teddy Roosevelt, and Obama's bill comes as close to that target as anyone has. The bill would provide health coverage to an estimated 32 million additional Americans, meaning 95% of those who are legally in this country would have health insurance, up from 83% today...
...bill also promises to rein in health costs by reorienting the practice of medicine, making it more efficient, with health care providers rewarded on how well they treat their patients, rather than how much care they give them. Whether it actually achieves that latter ambition, however, is far more uncertain. (See more about health care...