The Senate voted to strike down a controversial income tax provision in the health reform legislation Wednesday night, but fell short of repealing the Obama administration's landmark law.

The Senate voted 81-17 in favor of an amendment tagged to an aviation bill to repeal the 1099 reporting requirement.

This provision, included in the Obama administration's Patient and Affordable Care Act last year, required businesses, including medical practices, to submit separate 1099 forms to the Internal Revenue Service for every vendor they bought more than $600 worth of goods or equipment from.

Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) said the repeal represented "a victory for about 40 million small businesses across the country," according to Senate Republicans' Twitter page.

However, Republicans fell 13 votes shy of the 60 they needed for an amendment to the aviation bill that would have repealed the health reform law. The Senate voted 47-51 in favor of the repeal amendment, which matched a measure the House passed last month.

The vote split down party lines, with Republicans siding unanimously for repeal. However, the successful tax provision repeal, offered by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), drew bipartisan support, as Senators sympathized with the many businesses that fretted the reporting requirements involved in generating the forms would be burdensome.

"It is estimated that paperwork already takes up as much as a third of a physician's workday -- time that could be better spent with patients -- and this provision would only increase that burden," AMA President Dr. Cecil B. Wilson said in a statement.

Stabenow's 1099 repeal amendment differs from an earlier one floated by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Johanns in that hers is worded to ensure no funding to Social Security can be re-directed to pay for the 1099 repeal, The Hill newspaper reported.

The 10-year cost of the repeal is $22 billion, to be paid for by $44 billion already set aside from unused, previously appropriated funds, The Hill said.

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