First US Senate panel passes healthcare bill

WASHINGTON, July 15 (Reuters) - The Senate Health Committee passed on Wednesday its version of legislation to overhaul the U.S. health industry, which is to be combined with a bill yet to be written in the Senate Finance Committee.

The health panel's bill, which passed along a party-line 13-10 vote, would seek to expand coverage to many of the 46 million uninsured Americans, add a government-run healthcare program, require most Americans to obtain health insurance, and mandate most employers to provide it to their workers. The legislation also would seek to reduce costs in the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare industry. (Reporting by Jackie Frank and Kim Dixon, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)