Senators to take up healthcare reform

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Leading U.S. senators will meet this week to discuss how to proceed on a push for a healthcare system overhaul, officials said.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has called for changing the way medical care is delivered to Americans, The Hill reported Monday.

"The healthcare system is broken for individual Americans and it's straining our economy," Baucus said. "We have a duty to enact it in law this year."

Baucus, who outlined his proposals in a white paper last week, is scheduled to meet Tuesday with Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, among other key senators, the newspaper reported.

"This is probably going to be the bible that everyone is going to look at," Baucus said of his white paper.

Baucus has said he plans to collaborate with his House counterparts and President-elect Barack Obama's administration.