US Senate is all set to pass the landmark health care bill to President Barack Obama an early Christmas present by voting the legislation that promises to extend medical coverage to 31 million Americans.
Barring any last minute surprise, the bill is expected to be voted with a comfortable margin. The voting scheduled for 7 pm today (1730 IST) has been advanced by several hours so as to give Senators time to leave for their respective States for Christmas celebrations a day later.
The series of procedural votes in the run up to the final vote this morning indicate that bill would be passed by 60-40 votes.
The US House of Representatives have already passed and it will legislation will have to be reconcile with the senate version.
But the President does not think this will be much of a problem.
"There are a lot of provisions that are both in the Senate and the House bill. I actually think that reconciling them is not going to be as difficult as some people may anticipate," he said adding that he would be actively involved in its reconciliation process.
The White House told reporters that the Vice President, Joe Biden, would preside over the Senate meeting during the voting.
Thereafter he would come to the White House where Obama deliver brief remarks on what his administration says would be a historic occasion.
"This is a good deal," Obama said in an interview to 'Newshour with Jim Lehrer' on the PBS news channel.
"I am never completely satisfied. But I am very satisfied," he said when asked about the bill.
"Overall, I think that I have seen 95 per cent of what will work for the American people, for small businesses and for the government budget that I was seeking from the beginning," he said.
"I will be rolling up my sleeves and spending some time before the full Congress even gets into session, because the American people need it now," he said.
Meanwhile the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, charged the Republicans of being indulging in politics and being partisan on such an important issue.
"The health care votes we have held this week have been procedural in nature. Each has been a party-line vote. And much of this debate has focused on politics. But health reform is not about procedure, or partisanship, or politics," he said.
"It is about people. People like the thousands who write us every day. A small, small fraction of those letters are right here on my desk," Reid said.