Sen. Harry Reid points and laughs at Sen. Mitch McConnell's weekend waaambulance.In deal-making that occurred over the weekend, Sen. Harry Reid abandoned the government-run public health insurance option along with a provision granting citizens as young as 55 access to medicare. The deal yielded unanimous Democrat support for the bill along with the necessary Independent support to assure its passage. A procedural vote held yesterday virtually sealed the deal.

"Healthcare reform is not a matter of if; healthcare reform now is a matter of when," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) said "the finish line is in sight."

Sen. Reid has set the final vote on the healthcare bill for Thursday morning.

President Obama has delayed his holiday vacation until after the bill's passage. "I will not leave until my friends in the Senate have completed their work," President Obama said. "My attitude is that if they're making these sacrifices to provide health care to all Americans, then the least I can do is be around to provide them any encouragement and last-minute help where necessary. That's the deal."

Some liberal Democrats were not happy with the changes made, but top Democrats agree that the legislation still represents a major step forward in healthcare reform. Here's a list of some key provisions that remain in the bill:

• Extension of health insurance to 30 million uninsured Americans while reducing the federal deficit, according to the Congressional Budget Office
• Creation of health insurance exchanges that help small businesses, the self-employed, and the unemployed pool their resources and purcahse cheaper coverage
• Expansion of Medicaid by extending coverage to those at 133 percent of the poverty level or a little over $29,000 a year for a family of four
• Subsidization of health insurance for those at 400 percent of the poverty level or a family of four making $88,000
• Prohibition of higher premiums based on gender or medical history

I know many of you are unhappy with the lack of a public option, but this scenario wasn't unforeseen. The public option had little chance of passing the Senate from the beginning. However, as I wrote earlier, since the House passed the public option there's a chance that it could reappear when the Senate and the House draft a compromise bill. Since no form of the public option is likely to make it through the Senate, the best liberals can hope for is a trigger option or a public option rigged with an opt-out provision. The trigger option makes the most sense to me and represents a fair compromise between the two congressional bodies, but you really never know with Congress. It's not over until it's over.