Healthcare reform

WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate Finance Committee takes an important step toward moving a healthcare reform bill to the desk of U.S. President Barack Obama.

The committee scheduled a vote for Tuesday on its chairman's plan for reforming the U.S. healthcare system.

It is unclear how much Republican support the plan of Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., will receive, especially after the pre-emptive release of a report Monday in which insurers claimed the measure would lead to higher premium costs for consumers. Supporters of reform said the study was flawed and the results selectively chosen.

The study concluded that, over the 2010-19 life of the bill, a family of four would pay about $20,700 more than if no reforms were enacted.

Baucus's bill will likely pass out of committee, given that the Democrats have a majority on the panel, and will have to be meshed with a Health Education, Labor and Pensions Committee reform bill before the full Senate gets involved. There's also a House of Representatives' measure awaiting reconciliation with whatever the Senate passes.

The Congressional Budget Office was kinder to the end results of the Baucus bill. It put the price tag at $829 billion but said, with additional taxes and cuts to Medicare included, the measure would end up cutting into the deficit.

It is unclear when the full Senate might take up healthcare reform.