US health bill sent back for new House vote

The landmark US healthcare reform bill must be sent back to the House of Representatives for approval after two issues were raised by Republicans.

• Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi Signed the Health Care Bill 

BBC News

During an all-night voting session, two points relating to student loans were found to violate Senate procedure, said an aide to the Senate majority leader.

They were described as "relatively minor provisions".

They will have to be deleted, approved by the Senate and then sent back to the House for approval.

The bill was passed in the House of Representatives by 219 votes to 212 on Sunday, with no Republican backing.

It extends coverage to 32 million more Americans, and marks the biggest change to the US healthcare system in decades.

As part of the package, on Sunday the House also approved a separate set of amendments.

That package returned to the Senate for a vote, under a process known as budget reconciliation, where amendments have to relate to budgetary rather than policy issues.

On Wednesday, Senate Republicans submitted 30 amendments - which were all rejected by Democrats during the marathon overnight voting session.

Democrats 'confident'

However, Senate Parliamentarian Alan Frumin upheld two Republican challenges on points of order under budget reconciliation rules, Senate Democratic aides said.
 

Jim Manley, spokesman for the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, said: "After hours of trying to find a way to block this, they (Republicans) found two relatively minor provisions that are violations of Senate procedure which means we're going to have to send it back to the House."

He added that he was "confident that the House will be able to deal with these and pass the legislation".

Mr Manley said 16 lines will be deleted from the bill, but any change required another House vote.

One of the changes was technical, and the other involved a provision to prevent reductions in the federal Pell Grant student aid programme, Associated Press reported.

President Barack Obama signed the healthcare bill into law without delay after the House vote, as he did not need to wait for the Senate vote on the reconciliation bill.

He is due to travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Thursday to promote the benefits of the health care reform.

Some supporters of the bill had received threats and abusive messages, prompting them to call police and the FBI.

Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said more than 10 Democratic politicians had reported incidents since Sunday's vote, some of which he described as "very serious".

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