Baucus Announces Physician Payment Changes

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) suggested that Baucus may want to consider the "reset" button—creating a different healthcare reform bill--that would attract bipartisan support.

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), however, said the efforts to create a new healthcare reform bill "is not a rush," he said. "This is long overdue."

For instance, Baucus said, in a recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey, healthcare coverage for the average family now costs more than $13,000 a year. "If that current trend continues just 10 years from now (in 2019), the average family plan will cost more than $30,000—greater than a two-fold increase. No one should have to live in fear of financial ruin from increasing insurance premiums. This bill would fix that," he said.

"Let's begin our consideration of this bill," he concluded. "Let us make this a time for progress, let us seize our opportunity to make history and let us to our part to make quality affordable healthcare available to all."