Senate, Health Care Overhaul | featured news

The Democratic-run US Senate defeated measures approved by the Republican-run House to bar spending government funds for the health-care overhaul law and Planned Parenthood.

The speaker says the House should pass the Senate's version of the plan and then use 'budget reconciliation' to make changes that some lawmakers want.

Republican Scott Brown won a bitter Senate race in Massachusetts on Tuesday, dealing a sharp blow to President Barack Obama's legislative agenda and casting doubt on the fate of his sweeping healthcare overhaul.

As lawmakers take a recess, several Dems ready to give in if it means getting the trillion-dollar bill to Obama quickly.

A broad healthcare overhaul passed its first crucial test in the U.S. Senate on Monday, with 60 Democrats voting to put President Barack Obama's top legislative priority on a path to passage by Christmas.

President Barack Obama on Sunday urged Senate Democrats to work out their differences on healthcare reform and pass what will be the most significant social legislation in decades.

Top Senate Democrats intend to try to strip the health insurance industry of its exemption from federal antitrust laws, according to congressional officials. It's the latest evidence of a deepening struggle over President Barack Obama's effort to overhaul the health care industry.

If enacted, the switch would mean greater federal regulation for an industry that recently has stepped up its criticism of portions of a health care bill moving toward the Senate floor.

A second Republican senator signaled Wednesday she's open to voting for sweeping health care legislation this year, putting President Barack Obama closer to a historic achievement that has eluded generations of Democratic leaders.

The Senate Finance Committee passed a long-awaited $829 billion health care bill Tuesday by a 14-9 vote. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, was the lone committee member to cross party lines, breaking with other Republicans to vote for the measure. All the committee's Democrats supported the bill.