Pressing to begin the Senate's landmark floor debate on healthcare legislation this week—and to finish by the end of the year—Majority Leader Harry Reid is considering new ways to fund the bill by raising the payroll taxes that upper-income workers pay for Medicare. Reid is studying the idea, senior Democratic aides say, because of criticism of a plan approved by the Senate Finance Committee that would impose new taxes on insurance companies that offer expensive healthcare plans. But Reid is meeting resistance from centrist Democrats who believe the tax on expensive insurance plans could rein in the growth of health costs overall, while a payroll tax hike would not.
