The U.S. House of Representatives voted Sunday night to approve health care reform legislation designed to provide coverage to more than 32 million uninsured Americans.

The bill, which pledges more than $1 trillion of taxpayer funding over the next decade, passed 219 to 212. No Republicans voted for it, and 34 Democrats voted against the main legislation.

President Obama is expected to sign the bill sometime this week. After that, the Democrats will have to guide the legislation through the Senate. To avoid the prospect of a GOP filibuster, the Democrats will use the budget reconciliation process in an attempt to pass the bill with 51 votes instead of 60.

However, some say this could work to the Republicans’ advantage, as they’ll be able to send the bill back to the House for another vote if they manage to make any changes.

Source: Los Angeles Times, Noam N. Levey and Janet Hook (3/22/2010)