Obama passes $18-billion law to extend aid to jobless

Just hours after Congress passed a $18-billion bill to restore unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed, President Barack Obama signed it into law. The bill extends unemployment benefits through 2 June and restores full Medicaid payments to doctors.

The bill cleared both houses of Congress on Thursday night. The House passed the bill 289-112 just two hours after it emerged from the Senate on a 59-38 vote that ended an unusually partisan debate.

Republicans largely chose to take a stand against the legislation for adding to the $12.8-trillion national debt, despite backing it by wide margins in December and again recently.

"It increases the deficit by $18 billion, a cost to be paid for by future generations," said Republican Jerry Moran. "This legislation is yet another unfortunate example of business as usual in our nation's capital."

The measure comes as welcome relief to hundreds of thousands of people who lost out on the additional weeks of compensation after exhausting their state-paid benefits. They now will be able to reapply for long-term unemployment benefits and receive those checks retroactively under the legislation.

The bill also restores full Medicare payments to doctors who were threatened by a 21-per cent cut and refloats the flood insurance programme.