**US President Barack Obama has hailed a congressional vote on healthcare reform due on Sunday as a “historic” moment in a century-long struggle.**Speaking at a rally in Virginia, he dismissed criticism of the bill from Republicans and some Democrats.
Appealing to lawmakers and citizens to back the legislation, he said: “The time for reform is right now.”
Democrats are still working to pin down enough House of Representatives votes to pass a Senate version of the bill.
Calling the battle to create the bill, “messy”, “frustrating” and “ugly”, Mr Obama said the final proposal was the culmination of a year of “hard debate”.
“Every argument has been made,” he told students at George Mason University.
“We have incorporated the best ideas from Democrats and Republicans into a final proposal.”
The reforms would deliver on Mr Obama’s top domestic priority by providing insurance to some 30 million Americans who currently lack it.
They would increase insurance coverage through tax credits for the middle class and expansion of the Medicaid programme for the poor.
If approved, they would represent the biggest change in the US healthcare system since the creation in the 1960s of Medicare, the government-run scheme for Americans aged 65 or over.