Obama health drive clears key Senate hurdle

President Barack Obama's planned overhaul of the U.S. health care system headed Sunday for another major political battle after it cleared a key Senate hurdle that allows for debate on the proposal.

Senators voted 60-39 Saturday to formally start debate on legislation aimed at extending coverage to some 31 million Americans who currently lack it in what would be the most sweeping overhaul of its kind in four decades. Obama's Democratic allies mustered the bare minimum 60 votes needed to take up the bill, rallying two wavering colleagues and two independents to defeat 39 of the chamber's 40 Republicans, one of whom was absent. "Tonight's historic vote brings us one step closer to ending insurance company abuses, reining in spiraling health care costs, providing stability and security to those with health insurance, and extending quality health coverage to those who lack it," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

The debate was expected to begin November 30, after next week's Thanksgiving holiday break, and to last at least three weeks as senators battle over possible changes to the legislation. The measure includes a government-backed insurance program to compete with private firms and restrictions on dropping care for pre-existing ailments. It is estimated to cost 848 billion dollars through 2019 but cut the sky-high U.S. budget deficit by 130 billion dollars over the same period.

A successful final vote - expected a month away at the earliest - would force the Senate and the House of Representatives to reconcile their rival versions of the bill and vote again on whether to send it to Obama. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid faced three possible defectors, any one of whom could deprive the majority of the 60 votes necessary to break Republican parliamentary delaying tactics.

Those senators - Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, and Ben Nelson of Nebraska - have signaled a willingness to join Republicans if their proposed changes to core provisions of the bill are defeated. Nelson has said he wants tougher restrictions on federal money subsidizing abortions, mirroring language the House of Representatives added to its version of the bill when it approved it in a 220-215 squeaker Nov. 7. "There are enough significant reforms and safeguards in this bill to move forward, but much more work needs to be done," Landrieu, who opposes the government-backed "public option," said hours before Saturday's vote. "I'm promising my colleagues that I'm prepared to vote against moving to the next stage of consideration as long as a government-run public option is included," said Lincoln.

Reid acknowledged intra-party tensions meant "the road ahead will be the toughest stretch" and that after Saturday's vote "we can only see the finish line; we have not yet crossed it." Republicans, one of whom has vowed a "holy war" against the bill, hope to kill the bill or delay the battle into next year with the expectation that the 2010 midterm elections may make it harder for centrist Democrats to support it. Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell argued the bill will result in a half-a-trillion-dollar cut in the Medicare program for seniors and massive tax hikes. "It may be a lot of things, but it's sure not reform," he said.