Obama 1 step closer to historic health reform as House passes bill

President Barack Obama got a much needed boost over the weekend as the U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday passed a sweeping health reform bill that would extend coverage to millions of Americans without insurance.

The bill, known as The Affordable Health Care for America Act, would prevent insurance companies from denying coverage for those with "pre-existing conditions" and would require all Americans to maintain health insurance. It would also set up a government-run public option to compete with private insurance providers.

The measure passed the House by a vote of 220-215 with one Republican, Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA), joining with 219 Democrats supporting the bill. Thirty-nine Democrats voted against the bill.

The vote was a huge victory for President Obama, who hailed the move as an "historic vote ... that would finally make real the promise of quality, affordable health care for the American people."

Presidents of both parties have pushed for health care reform for a century, and Democratic presidents Harry Truman and Bill Clinton made their own special efforts to reform health care. But if the current measure passes the Senate and the two chambers are able to reconcile their differences in conference, Obama could soon sign the most important piece of social legislation since Lyndon Johnson's Great Society.

"Thanks to the hard work of the House, we are just two steps away from achieving health insurance reform in America," Obama said. He called on the Senate to "follow suit and pass its version of the legislation" and said he was "absolutely confident" that the Senate would act and the full Congress would deliver him a comprehensive health insurance reform bill by the end of the year.