Health care bill faces tough path in Senate

By the skin of its teeth, with a narrow margin of just five votes, the House health care bill passed late Saturday night.

Less than a day later from the rose garden, President Barack Obama urged senators to now finish the job.

"Now it falls on the United States Senate to take the baton and bring this effort to the finish line on behalf of the American people," the president said.

The second leg of the vote won't be easy. Many Republicans still maintain the public option would destroy private health care. The bill may have squeaked by in the House, they say, but in the Senate it will fall flat.

"The House bill is dead on arrival in the Senate. Just look at how it passed. It passed 220-215. It passed by 2 votes," Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said.

An issue still central to the vote is the cost of the measure and how to pay for it. The House plan costs about $1.2 trillion over 10 years. The Senate version costs just under $900 billion.

The House bill passed only after language was added guaranteeing no federal funds would be used to pay for abortions, unless a woman's life is in danger.

Many Democrats say the vote was a major victory. The sweeping overhaul, they say, would provide insurance for some 30 million people who either have no coverage at work or buy coverage on their own.

So far, it's the furthest any proposed health care overhaul has gotten since Medicare was created in 1965.

"This legislation is founded on key principals for a healthier America. Innovation, competition and prevention," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

The president wants the measure to pass before the end of the year, but with the holidays approaching the vote may not happen until after the New Year.