Comprehensive health care reform, after nearly being left for dead earlier this year amid a tumultuous period for Democrats, passed the House last night in a historic vote, accomplishing a feat that has eluded each and every Democratic president since Harry Truman.

President Obama’s top domestic initiative passed the lower chamber Sunday night by a razor thin margin in a 219-212 vote fraught with emotion, suspense and intrigue.  Joining the entire Republican caucus to vote against the measure were 34 Democrats, most of whom hail from Republican-leaning districts.

“Today’s vote answers the prayers of every American who has hoped deeply for something to be done about a healthcare system that works for insurance companies but not for ordinary people,” Obama said in prepared remarks from the White House‘s East Room.

The $940 billion bill, which Obama staked his presidency on, is the most sweeping piece of health care legislation in decades and has the potential to reshape one-sixth of the nation’s economy.

The legislation will provide nearly universal coverage, providing some 32 million Americans without insurance basic health care coverage.  By the end of the bill’s first decade in effect, it should ensure that 95 percent of all Americans have some sort of health care coverage.

The bill will also crack down on the most egregious abuses of the private insurance industry.  Under the legislation, private insurers will no longer be able to deny consumers coverage because of pre-existing conditions.  In addition, lifetime and yearly caps on coverage will be banned and insurance companies will no longer be able to drop customers when they get sick.

“If you have health insurance this reform just gave you more control by reining the worst excesses and abuses of the insurance industry with some of the toughest consumer protections this country has ever known so that you are actually getting what you pay for,” Obama said. 

Despite the bill’s price tag, it will actually lower the deficit, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.  Because it is accompanied by spending cuts and tax increases, the bill will actually lower the deficit by $143 billion in the first decade and by over $1 trillion in the second decade.

Most of the tax increases come in the form of increased payroll and Medicare taxes on the wealthy.  The bill also generates revenue by applying fees to medical device manufacturers and tanning bed makers.

The bill’s passage was in doubt well into the evening.  It was only after President Obama released a last-minute Executive Order reaffirming that no taxpayer money would be used to fund abortions through the bill that a group of pro-life Democrats officially came on board, giving Democrats the necessary votes to pass the bill and providing political cover for some members to vote against the bill in order to improve reelection prospects.

There was also some tumult on the House floor, with one lawmaker allegedly breaking decorum by shouting at a member of the group of pro-life Democrats that paved way for the bill’s passage.  Over the weekend, there were also reports of disruptions caused by protesters in the chamber and allegations of lawmakers being spit on and slurred with racial and homophobic epithets by Tea Party protesters.

In the end, as the final vote tally was read, Democrats were jubilant, hugging, cheering and chanting “Yes we can,” a favorite mantra of Obama supporters during the presidential campaign.

Print PDF