Enlarge By Harry Hamburg, AP Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, center, and other senators, applaud Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, right, during a news conference Thursday. "Today we made that good law even better," Reid said. NOT A DONE DEAL YET: A LOOK AT THE BILL'S REVISIONS NOT A DONE DEAL YET: A LOOK AT THE BILL'S REVISIONS The bill now before the Senate would make changes to the health care law signed by President Obama on Tuesday. Some of those proposed changes: Enforcement: Adjusts the penalties on Americans who fail to buy health care insurance. Almost everyone will be required to buy insurance. The penalties will be gradually phased in, beginning Jan. 1, 2014. Under the bill, the fine for not having insurance would start at $95 per person up to $285 per family, or 1% of taxable household income, whichever is greater. By 2016, the penalty would be $695 for each family member up to $2,085, or 2.5% of taxable income. Medicare prescription drugs: Provides more help for Medicare patients who have a gap in prescription-drug coverage. It provides for a one-time, $250 rebate this year and a 50% discount on brand-name prescription drugs, beginning in 2011. The coverage gap would be closed by 2020. Nebraska deal: Removes language that would have given Nebraska 100% federal financing for newly eligible Medicaid recipients added to the program by the new law. Instead, the measure makes more money available to all states to help offset the new costs. Insurance plan tax: Delays the excise tax that would be imposed on high-cost health insurance plans and raises the threshold for when the tax would take effect. Under the bill, a 40% excise tax would be delayed until 2018, and would be imposed on health care plans that cost more than $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families. Unearned income tax: Imposes a 3.8% tax on unearned income for individuals earning more than $200,000 a year and families making more than $250,000. The money would help fund Medicare. Student loans: Requires the government to originate student loans, closing out a role for banks and other private lenders who charge a fee. The savings -- projected to be more than $60 billion over a decade -- are plowed into higher Pell Grants for needy college students and increased support for historically black and Hispanic colleges. Medicaid payments: Increases payments to primary care physicians under Medicaid. (c) USA TODAY WASHINGTON  Congress sent to President Obama a set of revisions to the new health care law on Thursday that will expand health care to 95% of Americans "Today we made that good law even better," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., countered that the changes only made "bad health care policy worse, adding more spending, taxes, gimmicks and debt to the new health care law without insuring any more people." The Senate voted first Thursday, 56-43, approving changes that were part of a deal made when the House passed the nearly $940 billion legislation on Sunday. Three Democrats —Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Ben Nelson of Nebraska— voted "no" with 40 Republicans. The House then approved the bill 220-207, getting only get Democratic votes as it did earlier in the week. HISTORY: The health care bill's 8 key moments THREATS: House leaders decry threats, dish out blame TIMELINE: Key moments on road to health care PRESIDENT: Obama returns to Iowa The new law, signed by the president on Tuesday, offers health care to 32 million uninsured people, prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions and offers subsidies to make coverage more affordable. Some House Democrats agreed to support the bill on a promise that the Senate would pass some changes. The revisions passed by Congress: • Closed a gap in prescription-drug coverage for seniors under Medicare by increasing drug benefits. • Eliminated a deal to give Nebraska more money for Medicaid, the federal-state program for the poor, that was aimed at getting Nelson's vote in December, when the Senate passed the original health care bill. • Delayed a tax on high-priced insurance plans until 2018. To stall passage of the changes, Senate Republicans offered 41 amendments as part of what was known as a "vote-a-rama" that had senators voting until 2 a.m. Thursday and then again during daylight hours. The bill went back to the House because of an unrelated measure attached to it dealing with Pell Grants for low-income college students. Reid called it a "legislative fight that will be in the record books." Shortly before the final vote, however, the senators paused together for a moment of silence to honor late senator Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who fought for health care for the poor and uninsured for nearly five decades in the Senate. He died in August. Retiring Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., said the new law means Americans will no longer have to fear financial ruin from a health care crisis. "You've waited a long time for this," he said. "You're finally going to have that freedom from fear." Kennedy's replacement, however, said the costly bill would only further damage the economy. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., who won a special election in January to replace Kennedy, said the legislation will "hurt jobs and the economy," and vowed to work to repeal portions of it. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more