A health care bill, on its way to becoming the biggest change in U.S. health care coverage in 40 years, managed to get the go-ahead from the U.S. Senate with just enough votes to proceed.

Passing the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) is considered to be the first real test for U.S. President Barack Obama in the Senate. The bill was unanimously backed by 60 Democrats in a motion to open a procedural hearing against the opposition of 39 Republicans.

The Democrats needed at least 60 votes to sustain the bill in the U.S. Senate, and they got exactly that – 60 votes. The win was assured when Blanche Lincoln and Mary Landrieu, the Democrats’ last two holdouts, said that they would support the bill in the Senate vote, but have also warned that they would not be supporting the bill all the way unless changes have been made.

The victory is somewhat mirrored by the bill’s success in the U.S. House of Representatives, with the bill narrowly passing the House with a margin of 220 votes against 215.

The H.R. 3962 has provisions for major changes in the U.S. health care regime, including provisions that prohibit insurance companies from denying assistance because of pre-existing medical conditions, and charging premiums because of gender or medical history.

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