HEALTH CARE BILL: Finance Committee Version

A LONG WAITING LINE

Sen. Max Baucus on Wednesday brought out the much-awaited Finance Committee version of an American health-system remake — a landmark $856 billion, 10-year measure that starts a rough ride through Congress without visible Republican backing.

The bill by Baucus, Democratic chairman of the Senate panel, would make major changes to the nation’s $2.5 trillion health care system, including requiring most people to purchase insurance coverage or pay a fine and prohibiting insurance companies from charging more to people with more serious health problems.

The proposal, crafted by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Montana, would cost $856 billion over 10 years and mandate insurance coverage for every American by 2013. It lacks a government-run public health insurance option favored by most Democrats and President Obama, but it contains provisions to meet other major goals for health care reform.

The House of Representatives is expected to pass a bill which will allow Americans who do not have employer-provided health insurance to choose a publicly-run insurance scheme. But Mr Baucus’s bill will not offer the so-called “public option”.

Instead, he would create not-for-profit co-ops, which would compete with private insurers to cover people without employer-sponsored coverage. Like other draft bills produced by various House committees and the Senate health committee, Mr Baucus’s bill would mandate all Americans to get insurance, and would provide subsidies to help less well-off Americans pay for their coverage.

But while the House committees proposed to pay for the increased coverage by placing a surtax on families earning over $350,000 a year, Mr Baucus would cover the costs of his proposals by levying new fees on more generous private insurance schemes.

Mr Baucus had hoped to attract Republican support for his plan, which is more moderate than the bills proposed by other committees. “This is a unique moment in history where we can finally reach an objective so many of us have sought for so long,” said Mr Baucus.

“The Finance Committee has carefully worked through the details of health care reform to ensure this package works for patients, for health care providers and for our economy.”

So far, however, his bill has not received any Republican backers. And one of the leading Democrats on the committee, Senator Jay Rockefeller, has rejected the plan, because it does not include a public option.

If the Finance Committee does eventually agree on a bill, the full senate will attempt to come up with a bill, based on the versions produced by the Finance Committee and the Health Committee.