Health Bill Is Unlikely to Get Republican Support

Behind them is where the Nevada Democrat must merge the conservative-leaning Finance Committee legislation with a more liberally drawn bill approved by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

The Finance Committee debate is expected to go all day Tuesday before a vote. The committee -- with 13 Democrats and 10 Republicans -- is expected to pass the legislation. It's unclear if the bill will get any Republican support, though Sen. Olympia Snowe, a moderate from Maine, has signaled she is willing to work with Democrats.

Over the past two weeks, the Finance Committee has considered several hundred amendments to the sweeping bill, CNN reports.

In the meantime, the Max Baucus's bill has been the sun around which the health care debate has orbited in recent weeks. But that universe is about to be altered.

As the finance committee bill heads to the Senate floor, Democrats will try to re-insert a provision for a publicly-funded insurance option. Others may have other provisions they want to add, as well.

Republicans -- who say the "public option" will lead to government-run health care -- will argue that even the Baucus bill will cost more and regulate more than claimed.

It was also reported, if Ms. Snowe votes against the measure, some Democrats will certainly question whether Mr. Baucus wasted precious time, shaping a bill that is less liberal than many of his colleagues wanted, in pursuit of Republican votes that never materialized.

Mr. Baucus will probably counter that his efforts were needed not only to secure the backing of Ms. Snowe but also to address the concerns of centrist Democrats, especially fiscal conservatives concerned about the overall price-tag of the legislation.