Washington, Dec 24 : As the US Senate passed a historic $871 billion health care overhaul bill Thursday bringing President Barack Obama's top domestic priority "incredibly close to reality", he vowed to finish the job soon.

"With today's vote, we are now incredibly close to making health insurance reform a reality in this country," said Obama, before leaving for his Christmas vacation in Hawaii, which he delayed until Senate passed the health care bill.

"Our challenge, then, is to finish the job."

"This will be the most important piece of social legislation since the Social Security Act passed in the 1930's and the most important reform of our health care system since Medicare passed in the 1960's," he said.

Obama praised the Senate's 60-39 passage of the bill despite the fact that not a single Republican voted in favour following 24 consecutive days of often bitter debate and deep partisanship.

"We can't doom another generation of Americans to soaring costs and eroding coverage and exploding deficits," Obama said, adding: "Instead, we need to do what we were sent here to do and improve the lives of the people we serve."

"For the sake of our citizens, our economy, and our future, let's make 2010 the year we finally reform health care in the United States of America," Obama said.

The president also hailed the legislation as the "largest deficit-reduction plan in over a decade," and added that he looks forward to working with both chambers of Congress "over the coming weeks" to bring a final bill to his desk.

"Ever since Teddy Roosevelt first called for reform in 1912, seven Presidents - Democrats and Republicans alike - have taken up the cause of reform," he recalled.

"Time and time again, such efforts have been blocked by special interest lobbyists who've perpetuated a status quo that works better for the insurance industry than it does for the American people," Obama complained.

"But with the passage of reform bills in both the House and the Senate, we are now finally poised to deliver on the promise of real, meaningful health insurance reform that will bring additional security and stability to the American people."(IANS)