Baucus reportedly proposing new insurance fee to pay for health reform

The New York Times reports that "In a last effort to give the Senate a bipartisan health care bill," Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., "the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee circulated a comprehensive proposal on Sunday to overhaul the health care system and proposed a new fee on insurance companies to help pay for coverage of the uninsured." 

"A similar fee was proposed by several liberal Democrats in July. In making it part of his proposal, Mr. Baucus may help cover the costs of the bill but also risks alienating Republicans whom he is trying to win over. Mr. Baucus is struggling to forge a bipartisan consensus among 6 of the 23 senators on his committee before President Obama puts new pressure on lawmakers in an address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday evening. The proposal by Mr. Baucus does not include a public option, or a government-run insurance plan, to compete with private insurers, as many Democrats want."

"People familiar with Mr. Baucus's plan said it was calculated to appeal to Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Republican of Maine. But, at first glance, they said, it appears unlikely that the proposal, in its current form, could win support from the other Republicans in the 'group of six,' Senators Charles E. Grassley of Iowa and Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming" (Pear, 9/6).