Senator Max Baucus, Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, released his draft healthcare reform bill. The bill would cost $856 billion over the next ten years.

“We will act to pass health reform legislation this year,” said Senator Baucus in a press conference this morning. “This is a good bill. This is a balanced bill. It can pass the Senate.”

Senator Baucus told reporters that we have to begin to change the way physicians are compensated, paying for outcomes rather than procedures. In his opinion this will reduce costs and increase quality of care.

As a measure of compromise, the draft bill does not include an employer mandate, but does include penalties for large employers not providing healthcare insurance. The draft bill also does not include a public option.

The draft bill has already received push back from democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller, who does not like the tax that would be imposed on high-cost health insurance plans. Starting in 2013, Senator Baucus’ proposal would impose a 35 percent excise tax on insurance companies for high-cost plans. In the draft, these plans are defined as those above $8,000 for individuals and $21,000 for family plans.

The reason for the tax is to reduce healthcare costs by making consumers more aware of the prices of medical services. This could reduce overutilization of those medical services and encourage usage of generic drugs.

Senator Ron Wyden also has issues with the draft bill, stating that it will cost low-income Americans too much and give many people too little choice of insurance plans.

Read the draft America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009 here or read Senator Baucus’ 18 page Framework for Comprehensive Health Reform here.