WASHINGTON — Sen. Max Baucus on Monday pushed a new health care plan including an insurance industry fee to help pay for covering the uninsured as President Barack Obama said insurance companies must share accountability for the troubled system.
The Finance Committee is the last best hope for a bipartisan bill because four of five congressional committees have produced partisan proposals. Baucus, D-Mont., has said he would move forward on his own if there’s no agreement by Sept. 15.
Baucus, chairman of the Finance panel, is part of a six-member bipartisan group trying to craft a bill satisfactory to both parties, and the group is set to meet today. It’s unclear whether the fee, designed to increase competition in the insurance market, would win support of key Republicans Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Mike Enzi of Wyoming.
The Baucus proposal reflected many of their priorities, chief among them the decision not to include a government-run plan to compete with private insurers. The Associated Press; New York Times photo
Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.
