WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will sign into law on Tuesday landmark healthcare legislation, a hard-fought victory that will help shape his legacy and the Democrats' chances of holding power in the U.S. Congress.
U.S. President Barack Obama (L) delivers a statement about the House of Representatives' final passage of health care legislation, as Vice President Joe Biden listens in the East Room of the White House in Washington, March 21, 2010. (REUTERS/Jason Reed)
After signing the bill -- designed to revamp the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare industry -- Obama will speak at a ceremony with lawmakers in the culmination of a yearlong push that eroded his popularity.
The Senate is taking up a package of changes this week that the House of Representatives proposed to improve the bill. Republicans say their anger over the bill's passage may make them less likely to work with Democrats on other items such as climate change legislation and immigration reform.
The bill's passage will also free Obama to devote time to other priorities, including pushing for congressional approval of a plan reform and tighten financial regulations.
Aides have described a euphoric atmosphere at the White House after the House on Sunday narrowly approved the healthcare legislation, which analysts had pronounced all but dead only a few weeks earlier.
Obama put his reputation on the line and poured his energy into passing the bill, even delaying a planned trip to Indonesia and Australia.
The overhaul will extend health coverage to 32 million Americans, expand the government health plan for the poor, impose new taxes on the wealthy and bar insurance practices like refusing cover to people with pre-existing medical conditions.
Obama's intense focus on the issue drew criticism from some Democrats who worried healthcare was becoming a distraction from the need to fix the economy and boost jobs.
But with a major accomplishment in hand, Obama will be able to counter critics who have suggested he had little to show for his 14 months in office.
"I have no regrets. Nor do I have any fears about November as a result of this," David Axelrod, a senior adviser to Obama, said on CBS's "The Early Show."
Americans have been lukewarm toward healthcare reform and Republicans hope to capitalize on that in November's congressional elections, in which they hope to overturn or at least reduce Democratic majorities in the Senate and House.
Republicans have vowed to try to repeal the healthcare bill.
"The reality of it is that no one paid attention to the American people for the past year. And the American people have been to the point of outrage on this issue," Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said on NBC's "Today Show."
The Republican National Committee is particularly targeting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, credited with shepherding through the bill's passage, in a fund-raising pitch on its website that features an image of her against flames as if she were in an inferno.
The signing ceremonies and a planned trip by Obama to Iowa on Thursday will allow him a chance to celebrate the victory and try to sell Americans on the benefits of the bill.
Thursday's event, in which Obama is not expected to take any questions from the public, is part of what is expected to be a public relations blitz by the president, who has assured lawmakers who backed the bill that he will throw himself into the effort to sell the bill and campaign for them against the expected furious Republican election challenges.
A CBS News poll found only 29 percent of Americans believe the overhaul will make the system better, while 34 percent said it would make it worse and 28 percent said they were not sure.
The legislation marks the biggest change in the system since the Medicare health program for the elderly was created in 1965 and fulfills a goal that eluded many of Obama's predecessors for a century, most recently including Bill Clinton in 1994.
Republicans have labelled the $940 billion healthcare scheme a government intrusion into the economy and warn it would drive up the budget deficit.
"The reality of it is this is a bad bill," Steele said on CBS.
"I think every effort should be afoot right now to repeal it, to start with something that's centered on those cost centers that are driving the costs of healthcare right now, not this massive overhaul of healthcare."
(Writing by Caren Bohan and Patricia Zengerle; Additional reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Will Dunham)
Copyright © 2010 Reuters
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