The vote, which occurred at 1 am ET, was 60-40 in favor of ending debate. The vote came along party lines, with all Democrats plus two Independents voting to end debate and all Republicans voting against it.

Passing the bill in the Senate will now prove much easier for Senate Democrats, who only need 51 votes to pass it. It had been getting the 60 votes bypass a Republican filibuster that had proven difficult.

Particularly, Senator Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., had said that he would not vote for the bill if it contained a public health care option or a provision to lower the age for Americans to qualify for Medicare to 55. This forced Democrats to compromise and remove those two provisions from the bill, which angered many Democratic supporters.

Top Democrats, on the other hand, have argued that the Congressional Budget Office found that the bill, as it is written now, would extend health coverage to over 30 million Americans. The CBO also said the bill would reduce the federal deficit by $132 billion over the next decade.

"Today, the Senate took another historic step toward our goal of delivering access to quality, affordable healthcare to all Americans," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

He added, "Senate Democrats are committed to passing health legislation this week that will deliver quality, affordable health coverage for all Americans."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., meanwhile, was not happy about the vote at all.

"Make no mistake: If the people who wrote this bill were proud of it, they wouldn't be forcing this vote in the dead of night," McConnell said.

"Mark my words: this legislation will reshape our nation," he added. "And Americans have already issued their verdict. They don't want it. They don't like this bill, and they don't like lawmakers playing games with their health care to secure the votes they need to pass it."

Senator Judd Gregg, R-N.H., echoed McConnell's statement, arguing, "After weeks of trying to buy votes in a back room, closed to all but a few special interest groups and a very few senators, Senator Harry Reid has produced another massive health care bill that unfortunately has added enough spending to the underlying bill to secure votes in the Senate, but comes at a great cost to many Americans and future generations."

"This bill will dramatically grow the and cost of government, raise premiums for those with private insurance, drastically cut Medicare in order to fund a new entitlement for non-seniors, and leave millions of people uninsured," Gregg said.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele was equally critical of the vote, saying that Democrats have shown no concern for "the American people's opposition" to the bill.

"For months concerned citizens have been telling Democrats that they don't support their plan and with this vote Democrats have shown they aren't listening to their concerns," Steele said.

With it looking more and more certain that the bill will pass the Senate in its current form, attention now turns to the compromises the Senate and House will have to make in order to come up with a final bill to send to President Barack Obama.

One of the most prominent differences between the bills is that the House bill includes a public option that Senate Democrats took out of the Senate bill. The Senate bill instead has a provision to create non-profit private plans overseen by the federal government.

In order to help pay for reform, the House bill includes a tax surcharge on wealthy Americans. Specifically, individual Americans who earn over $500,000 per year and families who earn over $1 million per year would be slapped with a 5.4% income tax surcharge.

In contrast, the Senate bill includes a provision for a 40% tax on "Cadillac" health plans, plans with premiums higher than $8,000 for individuals or $21,000 for families.

The final vote on the Senate bill is expected by Christmas Eve at the latest.

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