The US Senate majority leader, Sen. Harry Reid, unveiled the upper house version of the health care reform bill that is US President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority for 2009. The bill would extend health coverage to 31 million Americans who do not now have health insurance, or fine those that do not wish to participate. It introduces a “public plan”, a state-run health insurance, to compete with private insurers. The health care plan would be paid for by taxing the wealthy and a tax on “Cadillac” plans with expensive, all-inclusive coverage.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the plan’s $849 billion cost over 10 years would be offset by budget savings of $130b over the same time period.

The bill must still be voted on in the Senate. If passed by the Senate, the House version passed 7 November must be reconciled with the Senate version to be ready for signature by Obama.

Links to other sites: ABC, CNN, Economist, San Francisco Chronicle

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