Affordable Health Care

By jpdunlap5

  • H.R. 3962

    Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and a group of Democrats from the House of Representatives revealed their plan for overhauling the health-care system. It’s called H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act.

  • Senator Ted Kennedy

    Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, a leading supporter of health-care reform, dies and puts the Senate Democrats’ 60-seat supermajority required to pass a piece of legislation at risk.

  • Voting

    In the House of Representatives, 219 Democrats and one Republican vote for the Affordable Health Care for America Act, and 39 Democrats and 176 Republicans vote against it.

  • America’s Healthy Future Act,

    In the Senate, 60 Democrats vote for the Senate’s version of the bill, called America’s Healthy Future Act. Thirty-nine Republicans vote against the bill, and one Republican senator, Jim Bunning, does not vote.

  • Senator Scott Brown

    In the Senate, Scott Brown, a Republican, wins the special election in Massachusetts to finish out the remaining term of US senator Ted Kennedy, a Democrat. Brown campaigned heavily against the health-care law and won an upset victory in a state that consistently votes in favor of the Democratic party.

  • Budget Reconciliation

    Now lacking the 60th vote needed to pass the bill, Senate Democrats decide to use budget reconciliation to get one bill approved by the House and the Senate. The use of budget reconciliation only requires 51 Senators to vote in favor of the bill for it to go to the president’s desk for signature.

  • Approved

    The Senate’s version of the health-care plan is approved by the House in a 219-212 vote. All Republicans and 34 Democrats vote against the plan.

  • The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

    The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010.