Key Senate Democrats unveil plans for health care bill

WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats unveiled new details of a plan to revamp the nation's health care system Thursday, including a public, government-run insurance program and a $750-per-employee annual fee on companies that do not offer health benefits.

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., a leading architect of the legislation, said the new bill will cost $611 billion over the next decade — lower than an earlier $1 trillion estimate — and that he hoped his committee could have its version completed next week.

"This is a strong number that allows us to achieve the president's goals," Dodd said today of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate of the bill's cost. "We believe people ought to be able to keep [insurance] plans they like and that people ought to have choices."

In a statement, President Obama said the bill "reflects many of the principles I've laid out" and he praised the committee for including a controversial public insurance option that he said would "make health care affordable by increasing competition."

Legislation by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee would provide insurance to 15 million who do not have it now, about 30% of the uninsured population, the CBO said. Obama and Dodd said once the is bill merged with a separate proposal by the Senate Finance Committee as many 97% of uninsured would be covered.

But the cost will also increase when those two bills are merged. The cost of the bill has been a major stumbling block in overhauling the nation's health care system.

Many provisions, including the public plan, were left out of a previous health committee draft. Among the changes announced today:

•If the bill is approved, the Department of Health and Human Services would oversee a public insurance program to compete with private insurers. The program would reimburse doctors at prices negotiated by the government. Many Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have opposed the idea.