So, Sen. Max Baucus has introduced his healthcare reform bill to the world. It was met with a resounding yawn. What’s next? Well, outside of the fact that Republican support is practically dead (save for some pleas to Republican moderates who may give it a second chance), the bill’s failure to gain traction puts the reform debate at the eleventh hour into the wider national spotlight and out of the Gang of Six’s lawmaking closed quarters.

Senate Democrats are now more renewed than ever to the fact that there needs to be some public “plan” at final passage. Interesting how this is referenced on the Senate side, as Speaker Pelosi is still holding fast to a public option provision in the House. Although Baucus may have lost the battle, his ideas may not have lost him the war. In the Senate, the goal now — even for the more liberal cognoscenti — is the search for government involvement at a level that will not invoke cries of socialism, but for alternatives that will benefit insurance coverage purchasing while appeasing insurance companies fretful of government competition. Obama seems to be echoing this, and will continue to tour on its premise.

Is this the new Democratic strategy for health reform in the homestretch? | LINK

UPDATE: In an effort to gain greater leverage among go-it-alone Democrats wary of his plan’s original language, Baucus is reportedly tweaking the bill’s affordability parameters.

The changes could add $28 billion to the 10-year cost of his bill, which was originally estimated at $774 billion by the Congressional Budget Office. The revised bill, though, could still meet President Obama’s stipulation that health care legislation not add to the federal budget deficit.

An interesting move which buys the Finance chair some time and, perhaps, some support. | LINK

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