By Madhuri Dey
Dec. 21, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The Senate has passed the health care reform bill in a cloture vote on Sunday, Dec. 21. The measure was difficult to pass, considering that there had been a lot of disputes in the Senate after the bill had been passed in the House of Representatives. The minimum number of votes required to pass the bill was 60, the quota of a closure vote. The final vote of Senator Ben Nelson secured the bill as passed, ending a conflict that had been raging for more than a month.

It is understandable why the Senate chose to opt for a cloture vote about the health care reform bill. The bill had been disputed for a long time, ever since it was proposed, and the contention had continued in an even increased scale after it had been passed in the House of Representatives. The contention issued from the difference that prevails in the two versions of the bill, the one that had been passed in the House of Representatives and the one proposed by the Senate.

Various clauses in the two bills acted as the bone of contention between the two houses. The matter of abortions, the expenditures of the reforms and the government funded insurance plan, all contributed to the dispute. Not to mention the introduction of the new clause that made it a criminal offense for all Americans above the age of 55 to refrain from investing in Medicare. It is likely that after being passed in the Senate, the health care reform bill is likely to face further hurdles in the conference that is scheduled to be held next year between the two houses.