Health & Medical Newswire

The Senate Finance Committee has approved a $829 billion health care reform bill on a 14-9 vote, with Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe the only Republican who voted “yes.”

Olympia Snowe was the only Republican to vote yes on senate health care bill

The vote moves President Barack Obama’s goal of overhauling the nation’s health care system one step closer to reality.

The bill would require all Americans to own health insurance or pay a fine of up to $1,500 per family. It doesn’t require employers to offer health coverage – as the House version of the bill does – and would create health-care co-operatives for purchasing insurance, not the publicly run health insurance option many liberals hoped for.