US president Barack Obama’s healthcare bill passed by Congress.

Barack Obama last night forced his bitterly fought healthcare reform bill through Congress, bringing near-universal coverage to Americans and delivering the first major triumph of his presidency.

After days of manoeuvring by the Democratic party leadership to bring dissident party legislators on board and an impassioned plea on Saturday by Obama, Nancy Pelosi who is the speaker of the House of Representatives, confirmed that the votes were in the bag. She said she would not have decided to take the bill to a vote unless the necessary 216 Democrats had been secured to push the move through. As it was, the Healthcare bill was passed by 219 votes to 212.

Obama said that “Tonight, at a time when the pundits said it was no longer possible, we rose above the weight of our politics,”

“This legislation will not fix everything that ails our healthcare system, but it moves us decisively in the right direction. This is what change looks like.”

House Democrats hugged and cheered as their vote count hit the magic number of 216, and chanted: “Yes we can.”

Every Republican opposed the bill, and 34 Democrats joined them in voting against it.