The Baucus Health Reform Proposal

U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) unveiled a summary of a detailed health care overhaul proposal that he and other members in the Committee's bipartisan "Gang of Six" have been negotiating over the last several months.

While this is the only significant reform proposal assembled with significant Republican input, Baucus was unable to persuade his "Gang of Six" negotiators to endorse the nearly $900 billion plan, which does not include many provisions that liberal lawmakers are clamoring to see in a final measure. The Republican most likely to sign onto the plan, Senator Olympia Snow (R-ME) said that she will wait to hear what the president has to say in tonight's joint session of Congress before making a final decision on the bill. She expressed worried about the burden that expanding Medicaid eligibility would impose on state governments. Aides to Senator Mike Enzi, (R-Wyo) another member of the "Gang of Six," said that he does not care for a plan that would tax insurance companies that sell costly policies, or for a proposal that would impose a $6 billion annual fee on insurance companies based on their share of the market.

Senator Baucus indicated today that he will put out a Chairman's Mark of legislation early to mid-next week and move the Finance Committee to mark-up health care reform the week after next.