Health care bill stays alive in SEnate

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By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar ASSOCIATED PRESS

UPDATE:

Sweeping health care legislation has cleared its first hurdle in the Senate on a party-line vote.

The 60-39 vote clears the way for a historic debate after Thanksgiving on the legislation. The measure is designed to extend coverage to an estimated 31 million Americans who lack it and crack down on insurance industry practices that deny benefits.

The vote came in a rare Saturday session in the Senate

WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Democrats cleared the way Wednesday for a pivotal floor vote on health care overhaul as early as the weekend, after tweaking their 1,900-page bill to crack down harder on insurance companies.

"Americans are ready for comprehensive health insurance reform and the House will soon act," Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement that accompanied dozens of last-minute changes to the bill, released Tuesday night.

Publication of the changes started a 72-hour legislative clock, meaning that a floor vote could take place as early as Saturday.

But with no Republican backing for the measure, Democrats will need overwhelming support from their own. A festering intra-party disagreement over how to prevent federal funds from being used to pay for abortion remained unresolved Wednesday morning.

And in the Senate, progress on health care legislation was still on hold.

The 10-year, $1.2 trillion House bill is estimated to expand coverage to about 96 percent of eligible Americans. Beginning in 2013, it would provide government subsidies to extend coverage to tens of millions who now lack it, and ban insurance company practices such as denying coverage to people with pre-existing medical problems.