With the introduction of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus' (D-Mont.) health reform bill last week, the committee now begins the difficult process of finding common ground in a deeply divided partisan battle.
The Senate Finance Committee package is the fifth of five bills expected to come out of Congressional committees with jurisdiction over healthcare. One Senate and three House committees have passed their bills this summer.
The Baucus bill was considered the most difficult to negotiate in the draft process because some Democrats don'tt agree with President Barack Obama's reform proposal, which includes a public health insurance option for those who are unable to afford or can't gain access to employer-based care.
Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.,) said Monday he would offer amendments to the Baucus bill that would include measures to reduce healthcare costs for average Americans, scale back total spending and protect American workers from new taxes and costly mandates.
"The Finance bill spends too much and does too little bring down healthcare costs," he said. "The hidden taxes and government mandates in this bill will actually increase healthcare costs for many families."
"We need to focus like a laser beam on getting costs under control," he added. "Instead of creating a new entitlement program and doling out more and more taxpayer dollars in subsidies, we need to make quality care more affordable."
Enzi has filed 20 amendments that he says would improve the bill. One would eliminate so-called "junk" medical lawsuits by rewarding states for establishing alternatives to traditional litigation, like health courts, and for adopting caps on non-economic damages.
"Despite the president's call for medical malpractice reform, the Finance bill does not include any meaningful effort to reduce frivolous lawsuits or curb the costly practice of defensive medicine," he said.
Last week, the White House released $25 million for states, localities and health systems to try out new medical liability reform models.
Obama is pushing Congress to pass a health reform bill by the end of this year, but he has met with stiff opposition from some moderate Democrats and Republicans on some aspects of his plan.
The Finance Committee will have to resolve differences in its bill and pass it before it can be combined with other Senate measures and a House bill for a full vote.