Obama pushes for health care bill on Capitol Hill

Dec 7, 2009, 4:44 GMT

   Washington - US President Barack Obama lobbied Sunday on Capitol Hill with his own Democrats in the US Senate as a decisive moment for proposed health-insurance reform legislation.

   On a rare working weekend, senators debated the contentious health care overhaul bill as the Democratic majority's self-imposed year-end deadline loomed.

   Obama 'encouraged (senators) to continue forward on this historic opportunity to provide stability and security for those who have insurance, affordable coverage for those who don't and (to) bring down the cost of health care for families, small businesses and the government,' presidential spokesman Bill Burton said.

   Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has proposed a plan costing 848 billion dollars over 10 years to extend health care coverage to more than 30 million US residents currently without insurance. The measure claims to reduce costs in the process.

   Health care reform is Obama's top domestic priority and the subject of long-running and controversial debate. The Democrats control 60 votes in the 100-seat Senate and will likely need all of those votes to meet the supermajority required to advance the legislation.

   Many moderate Democratic senators are under pressure to oppose the bill, and several have expressed scepticism about part of the legislation that would create a government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurance companies.

   No date has been set for a vote yet. Any bill that passes the Senate would have to go to conference committee to reconcile differences with the House of Representatives' version that passed in November. The new version would then have to pass the House and Senate again before being sent to Obama for signing into law.