At a minimum, Congressional Democrats have enacted the Senate's health care reform bill (219-212), which the President is expected to sign into law tomorrow. The Senate will now turn its attention to the President's proposed changes to the Senate bill deemed the "Reconciliation Package," which the House also approved shortly before midnight last night (220-211).

The vote count was in doubt until a 4 p.m. press conference where Representative Bart Stupak (D-MI) announced that the anti-abortion Democratic block had reached an agreement with the President. Obama agreed to issue an executive order prohibiting the use of federal funds for abortions.

Republicans will attempt to raise a procedural point of order against a provision in the Reconciliation Package that they claim alters Social Security law. If the Senate Parliamentarian rules in favor of Republicans, the process would have to start over with regard to the proposed changes to the Senate bill. However, the Senate bill will be signed into law regardless of what happens with the Reconciliation Package.

Below is a list of provisions in both bills. For a more in-depth analysis, watch for the next article entitled "Health Care Reform - Implications for Employers."

Summary of the Senate Bill:

Costs $950 billion and reduces the federal deficit by $118 billion between 2010-2019;
Expands coverage to 32 million uninsured individuals;
Immediately eliminates lifetime limits on benefits and prohibits annual limits starting in 2014;
Prohibits pre-existing exclusions for children and extends to all insured persons in 2014;
Extends dependent coverage up to age 26;
Requires uniform coverage documents so consumers can easily compare plans when shopping for insurance;
Caps insurance company non-medical administrative expenditures;
By 2014, each state is required to establish a health insurance exchange to help individuals and small employers obtain coverage;
Makes refundable tax credits available for Americans with incomes between 100 and 400 percent of the federal poverty line;
Establishes an individual mandate for maintaining minimum essential coverage with penalties beginning at $95 in 2014 and increasing to $495 in 2015 and $750 in 2016;
Requires employers with more than 50 full-time employees to offer coverage or pay a penalty of $750 per full-time employee;
Expands Medicaid eligibility to all children, parents and childless adults who are not entitled to Medicare and who have incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty line -- between 2014-2016 the federal government will pay 100 percent of the cost of newly-eligible individuals;
Levies a 40 percent excise tax on high cost employer-sponsored health coverage plans ($8,500 for single coverage and $23,000 for family coverage) starting in 2013;
Limits pre-tax contributions to flexible spending accounts to $2,500 per year beginning in 2012;
Establishes an annual fee ($2 billion in 2011, $4 billion in 2012, $7 billion in 2013, $9 billion for 2014-2016 and $10 billion in subsequent years) on the health insurance sector allocated across the industry according to market share;
Establishes a value-based purchasing program for hospitals in Fiscal Year 2013 to link Medicare payments to quality performance;
Increases access to clinical preventive services and;
Imposes a 10 percent tax on indoor tanning services after July 1, 2010.

Summary of the key proposed changes in the Reconciliation Package:

Costs $940 billion and reduces the federal deficit by $143 billion between 2010-2019;
Increases the Senate plan to fine employers with over 50 full-time employees that do not offer coverage from $750 per full-time employee to $2,000 per employee, but would exempt the first 30 employees from the penalty to ensure there is not a disincentive for hiring;
Reduces the penalties for individuals choosing not to obtain coverage from $495 to $325 in 2015 and from $750 to $695 in 2016;
Establishes a new 3.8 percent tax on all unearned income (capital gains, dividends, rental income) for individuals earning more than $200,000 per year ($250,000 for joint filers) and;
Delays the start of the Senate plan to tax high cost insurance plans from 2013 to 2018 and increases the threshold at which plans would be subject to the 40 percent tax to $27,500 for family plans and $10,200 for individual plans.