Al-Jazeera News
The US House of Representatives has passed a landmark bill overhauling the country's healthcare system, finally pushing through the top item on Barack Obama's domestic agenda.
The 219 to 212 vote in favour of extending health insurance to nearly all American citizens came on Sunday after days of negotiations and hours of heated debate.
The Democrats needed 216 votes to pass the bill.
The bill now needs to be signed by Obama, who has staked his presidency on the legislation which provides health insurance coverage to 95 per cent of Americans, extending current coverage by 32 million people.
Obama put forward the proposal for reforms in an attempt to get the bill passed after months of deadlock with opposition Republicans over the issue.
On Saturday, he campaigned at a meeting of Democrats in Washington DC for them to vote for the bill.
The bill had previously narrowly passed votes in both the House of Representatives and the senate, but a reformed bill had to pass Sunday's vote and a later ballot in the senate.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/03/201032213912967733.html
