President Barack Obama applauded fellow Democrats in the Senate Saturday for coming to an agreement on healthcare reform.

The president says concessions made to secure the 60th vote have only strengthened the bill.

"With today's developments, it now appears the American people will have the vote they deserve on genuine reform that offers security to those that have health insurance and affordable options to those who do not," Obama said.

Senator Ben Nelson provided the filibuster-proof 60th vote which paves the way for the measure's passage.

After marathon talks with the White House and key concessions by Democrats in late-night bargaining, Nelson says he now supports the measure.

The Nebraska senator won a deal to limit the availability of abortions in insurance sold in newly created exchanges. He also received tens of millions of dollars in federal Medicaid funds for his state.

"Each of my colleagues may differ on how to fix the system, I know of no members that suggest the current system is satisfactory," Nelson said.

"From the very beginning we knew the end result had to be a bill that saved lives, saved money and saved medicare. We did that," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The Senate is looking to vote on the bill before Christmas.

While Democrats celebrated their agreement on healthcare reform, Republicans in the Senate were quick to speak out against the bill.

They say concessions made to ensure the support of Senator Nelson will violate long standing policies on abortion funding.

"This is not the Christmas present I was hoping we could give the American people. A process that is reinforcing everything that is wrong with politics," said Senator Lindsey Graham.

"They're so eager to claim a victory that they'll simply do anything to jam it through in the next few days," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Leaders also claim the bill makes drastic cuts to Medicare, home health care and hospital funding.