In a statement following the vote, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the committee chairman, applauded his Democratic colleagues for their help in crafting what he called the first bipartisan health bill in seven years.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the ranking Democrat on the committee, was also impressed by her Republican colleagues' ability to avoid injecting the debate over the Affordable Care Act into the legislation.

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"I am very glad that this bill doesn't include any new policy riders that would have poisoned the bill and made it partisan," Murray says.

Alas, the legislation is not entirely lacking in anti-Obamacare provisions. It maintains a provision that requires the risk-corridor program to be budget-neutral, making it difficult for the government to fulfill its promise to insurers participating in the ACA that they will be protected from major losses incurred by accepting customers with pre-existing conditions.

And the bill finally puts the kibosh on the Independent Payment Advisory Board, a body authorized by the ACA to find ways to cut spending on Medicare. It was never implemented but ignited a firestorm of controversy when Sarah Palin infamously referred to it as a "death panel" that would decide who would get life-saving treatment and who wouldn't.

Democrats don't appear inclined to wage any battles over the Obamacare provisions, but they might push for an even bigger increase in opioid prevention funds.