WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two last-minute efforts by Democratic senators to block passage of a contentious $400 billion plan overhauling Medicare failed Monday, and the historic bill was expected to win passage in the Senate by the end of the day.

A threatened filibuster was ruled out when the Senate voted 70 to 29 in favor of ending debate on the issue. Sixty votes were needed to avoid a filibuster.

The next effort nearly succeeded. Democrats opposed to the bill raised a budget point of order, saying the bill would require more spending next year than Congress had approved.

The Senate voted 61 to 39 to waive the budget act, allowing the bill to proceed to a vote. Again, 60 votes were needed.

The bill, a centerpiece of President Bush's domestic agenda, would be the largest expansion of Medicare since it was created in 1965.

It would add a prescription drug benefit to the program, provide billions of dollars in subsidies to insurance companies and HMOs, and take the first step in allowing private plans to compete with Medicare. (Interactive: Prescription for change)

Supporters say the bill would help lead to better private coverage for seniors. But opponents say it would waste taxpayer funds and effectively force seniors into inadequate and expensive health plans. (CNN Access: Frist and Harkin)

The bill has made for some surprising bedfellows. Some prominent Democrats support it. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, said she will vote for it "not because it's perfect, but because I believe it will bring needed help to my state."

Meanwhile, some conservative Republicans oppose it, arguing it is far too expensive, particularly in light of the current economy, and will not yield results to justify the cost. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-New Hampshire, called the bill "a massive tax increase being placed on working young Americans and Americans who haven't yet been born, in order to support a drug benefit for retired Americans and Americans who are about to retire."

The White House said President Bush will jump in if necessary and call lawmakers, urging them to support the bill. Bush called House members last week, a move credited with helping get the bill passed in the House on Saturday by a slim margin, 220 to 215.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, has helped lead the fight against the bill in the Senate and repeatedly threatened to try to launch a filibuster.

"It's the first step towards a total dismantling of Medicare," he said of the bill Monday. "In exchange for destroying Medicare, it offers senior citizens a paltry and inadequate drug benefit. And the moment it is implemented, it will make 9 million senior citizens ... almost a quarter of all senior citizens, worse off than they are today."

But Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said, "If we're successful today ... 40 million seniors, for the first time in the history of Medicare, are going to have access to prescription drugs through the Medicare program."


Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says the current Medicare system is "antiquated" and needs to be updated.
Senators John Edwards, John Kerry, and Joe Lieberman -- all seeking the Democratic presidential nomination -- canceled campaign events to come fight the bill. (The Morning Grind)

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, argued that the plan will not help the elderly, but will enrich drug companies. "There's so much money in here to buy off HMOs, to get to the pharmaceutical companies," he said. "And you wonder what happened to the poor senior out there that we were supposed to try to help."

There's a good deal of confusion about exactly what the bill would and would not do, he complained. "It's about 1,100 or 1,200 pages," Harkin said, "and we got it dated November the 20th. No one's read this bill. Nobody knows what's in it."

The drug benefits, he said, "don't go into effect until 2006. So what's the rush? The only rush is the pharmaceutical companies and the HMOs, they want their money. Big bucks -- billions of dollars of taxpayer money going to bribe them to come in and to provide drugs and benefits to seniors."

The White House says that while the full drug benefit would go into effect in 2006, within six months of the bill's passage seniors would be eligible for a drug-discount card offering up to 25 percent off the retail price of prescription drugs.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson told CNN the bill will "give our seniors all across America prescription drug coverage, preventive health measures, a physical, as well as many other things that are going to benefit them."

He added, "This is a giant step forward to transforming Medicare into a modern way to treat maladies and help our seniors get prescription drugs and to prevent and manage illnesses."

Frist, in an interview on CNN, was asked why much of the money goes to employers, HMOs, and drug companies -- rather than pouring more funds into existing prescription drug benefits . He responded that the current Medicare system is "antiquated" and needs to be updated.

"The whole point of modernizing the system is to make it more efficient, so that ... every taxpayer dollar invested ... has greater value," he said.

--CNN Correspondents Jonathan Karl and Suzanne Malveaux and Producer Ted Barrett contributed to this report.

Originally posted by Einhander
I think the Democrats are right to threaten a Fillibuster. One of the Senators on CNN had a copy of it, which was about 1600 pages. Nobody has had any time to digest it. The GOP is basically rushing the thing through congress without allowing proper debate.