U.S. Senate approves healthcare reform bill

The U.S. Senate has approved a comprehensive healthcare reform bill. Compared to an earlier bill authorized by the House of Representatives, the one passed by the Senate features different approaches on taxes, abortion and insurance.

The latest approval gives President Barack Obama a major victory in the central issue of his domestic policy, but still, Democratic and Republican negotiators face a tough task ahead to combine the two bills into one.

In a 60 to 39 vote Christmas Eve, Senate Democrats supported the most dramatic shifts in health policy in four decades. The bill will extend health coverage to more than 30 million people without insurance.

The House of Representatives approved its own version in November, that includes different approaches in some aspects. Negotiators from the House and Senate must agree on a single bill, before each chamber votes on it again. But the session fulfilled a pledge by Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic leader, to pass the bill in the Senate before Christmas.

U.S. Senate majority leader Harry Reid (C) speaks during a news conference in Washington Dec. 24, 2009.(Xinhua/Zhang Yan)