Change is one step closer to becoming reality as a Senate committee has just passed a sweeping health care reform bill.

Change is one step closer to becoming reality as a Senate committee has just passed a sweeping health care reform bill.
 
The Associated Press reports that support for the middle-of-the-road bill was split down party lines on the key panel, and it only got backing from one Republican, Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine.
 
“When history calls, history calls,” she said of her decision that put the final tally at 14-9 in favor of the bill. Aside from Olympia every other Republican on the committee voted against the reform bill proposed by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus.
 
Max, a Montana Democrat, called the $829-billlion bill "a commonsense, balanced solution." Under the bill as it stands, complete health care reform would take about 10 years, but it would give most American’s health insurance without having to instate a government coverage plan. If passed, Max’s plan would make it mandatory for Americans to purchase some type of health insurance, but it would also
 
Reform legislation has one more hurdle to clear when it hits the Senate floor in two weeks.  By then Max’s bill will have been augmented by a proposal from the health committee. Because the addition would have more liberal leanings, it’s hard to predict how the next round of voting will go.
 
"The bottom line here is we need a final bill, a merged bill that gets 60 votes," Max told the AP. "Our goal is to pass health care reform, not just talk about it."

-- Sonya Eskridge

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