"The Senate passed legislation on Thursday intended to protect small and midsize businesses from increases in health insurance premiums, clearing the bill for President Obama's expected signature.... The bill ... eliminates a provision of the law that would have imposed tough, potentially costly new requirements on businesses with 51 to 100 employees. A White House spokeswoman confirmed that Mr. Obama would sign the bill, but she declined to discuss its substance. Recent comments by administration officials suggested that they did not particularly like the legislation but could not stop the growing wave of bipartisan support for it."