would still reduce projected budget deficits by $127 billion over a decade because the costs would be more than offset by new taxes and reductions in government spending, particularly on Medicare.
Democrats expressed confidence that they would have the votes necessary to move forward when the legislation hits its first test in the Senate, on Friday or Saturday, in the form of a procedural hurdle that will require a united front from all 58 Democrats and the two independents aligned with them.
In one last touch Wednesday, Reid and his aides finally named their 2,074-page bill: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Reid wrote the legislation in the past several weeks, combining parts of two previous bills adopted by Senate committees. The House passed its version of the health care legislation earlier this month.
"We all know that this legislation is tremendously important," Reid said at the news conference. "Why? Because it saves lives, it saves money."
The measure includes a government-run insurance plan, or public option, with a provision allowing states to opt out.
Though broadly similar to the bill adopted by the House, Reid's bill differs in key areas.
Democrats said it would increase the Medicare payroll tax on high-income people and would impose a new excise tax on high-cost "Cadillac" health plans offered by employers to their employees.
The Medicare payroll tax would rise to 1.95 percent from 1.45 percent for couples earning more than $250,000 a year, and individuals earning more than $200,000, Democrats said. The increase would raise $54 billion over 10 years.
The tax on so-called Cadillac plans, first proposed by the Senate Finance Committee, would apply to individual insurance policies costing more than $8,500 and family plans costing more than $23,000, raising $149 billion toward the cost of the bill.
Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat, challenged the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, to post the Republican version of health care legislation on the Internet. Senate Republicans said they would fight the Democrats' bill at every turn, but they have also said they have no intention of offering a full alternative bill.
Republicans promised a fierce floor fight, including a raft of amendments.
"It's going to be a holy war," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who is one of his party's most respected voices on health policy but for the past several months has voiced nothing but fury over Democrats' efforts.
Senate Democratic leaders spent much of Wednesday still trying frantically to nail down the final votes needed to begin debate on the legislation.
At least two potential Democratic holdouts, Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, signaled Wednesday that they were open to supporting a motion to begin debate.
But Nelson emerged from the Democratic caucus meeting saying he still had not made up his mind. "I still don't have anything that I want to say because I have not had a chance to review the bill and I only would be going on the basis of an outline, and that's not enough information," he said.
Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas is the third Democrat who has not made a commitment to moving the bill ahead.
If Democrats succeed in pulling together the needed votes, the Senate intends to devote most of December to a rollicking, unpredictable debate.
Reid's bill would not go as far as the House-passed bill in limiting insurance coverage for abortions. Democratic senators said the bill seeks to extend current law by barring the use of federal money for abortions. But it would also require that at least one insurance plan that covers abortion and one that doesn't cover abortion be offered in every state.
In seeking to broadly expand health coverage, Reid's bill would require people to obtain health insurance. Senators said that the bill would impose a complicated set of penalties for people who fail to meet the requirement.
Reid's bill would create a voluntary federal program to provide long-term-care insurance and cash benefits to people with severe disabilities. The program, known as Community Living Assistance Services and Supports, would be financed with premiums.
The premiums would be set to cover the full cost of the benefits, which, according to the Congressional Budget Office, would average $75 a day.
The House-passed bill includes similar provisions.
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