Obama signs final elements of health care overhaul

Mar 30, 2010, 16:52 GMT

Washington - US President Barack Obama on Tuesday signed into law the final elements of the ambitious health care reforms that engulfed his first year in the White House.

The legislation also included a major expansion of the government's loan programmes for universities and subsidies for poorer students.

Obama early last week signed the overriding health bill into law, marking the biggest legislative victory of his young presidency and the culmination of a bitter and divisive political debate.

The second signing ceremony Tuesday came after Congress late last week approved a round of changes to the underlying legislation, which for the first time aims to provide all Americans with at least basic health insurance.

Signing the bill at a university in Alexandria, Virginia, Obama said the health overhaul represented 'meaningful progress' that 'enshrines the principle' of universal health coverage in US law.

The two-step approval process was part of a complicated set of procedural manoeuvres used by left-leaning Democrats to get Obama's top domestic priority through the legislature over stiff Republican opposition.

The second package stepped up government insurance subsidies to the poor, increased tax credits to small businesses and delays the introduction of a tax on the most expensive health insurance plans.

The controversial health reforms have sharply divided the country, and last week sparked cases of vandalism of political offices and death threats to some legislators, mostly Democrats who supported the reforms.